Chief Guzman shares his FBI training experience

Earlier this year, Village of Monroe Chief of Police Darwin Guzman completed 10 weeks of training at the FBI’s National Academy in Quantico, Va., with the idea being to bring the lessons of that training back to the department.

“I learned some valuable tools about organizational leadership and management which will allow me to better lead an accredited police department that prides itself on providing exceptional public safety services to the Village of Monroe,” said Guzman, who has been chief since 2019. “The tools I was given in areas such as leadership development, training and best practices in law enforcement will enhance the Monroe Police Department’s ability to better serve our community.”

One of the courses he took in Quantico dealt with media relations, during which discussions were held on purpose driven communication and messaging via social media, press conference, or phone.

“One lesson I brought back here to my team is that when there is an absence of information, misinformation gets out into the public,” Guzman said. “We discussed that when there is an incident it is important to relay a message as soon as possible that is factual and consistent with the information we have at the time so the public knows what is going on.”

On the topic of leadership, one key takeaway is that it involves a constant learning process.

“One thing that I learned is the importance of building a culture of leadership, which means staying up to date and taking advantage of possible training opportunities for our officers,” Guzman said. “For example, one of our sergeants recently attended the Mid Atlantic Law Enforcement Executive Development Seminar at Princeton University where he also took courses for executive leadership development. With the ever-changing challenges that come with law enforcement these days, this is vital, especially as it pertains to breaking barriers with residents in a diverse community such as Monroe.”

While he was in Virginia, Guzman was monitoring things back home via daily communications with the mayor, town council and Lt. Timothy Young, who ran the department’s day-to-day operations.

The only other member of the department to have completed the FBI training was longtime Chief of Police Dominic Giudice, who hired Guzman in 2008.