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Napa Valley College Presents Historic LGBT+ Training Course to FBI National Academy

(L-R) Captain Phil Collum, Chula Vista, California Police Department, F.B.I. Unit; Chief Albert Guarnieri, Captain Nikki Heuer, Westminster, Maryland Police Department; and Damien Sandoval, Director, NVC Criminal Justice Training Center; and Greg Miraglia, NVC Program Coordinator, Administration of Justice & LGBT Studies

(L-R) Captain Phil Collum, Chula Vista, California Police Department, F.B.I. Unit; Chief Albert Guarnieri, Captain Nikki Heuer, Westminster, Maryland Police Department; and Damien Sandoval, Director, NVC Criminal Justice Training Center; and Greg Miraglia, NVC Program Coordinator, Administration of Justice & LGBT Studies

Instructors from the Napa Valley College (NVC) Criminal Justice Training Center traveled to Quantico, Virginia earlier this month to provide the inaugural LGBT+ Awareness for Law Enforcement training to students attending the FBI’s National Academy Program.  

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) National Academy hosts law enforcement administrators and executives from agencies across the United States and around the world. FBI training managers invited Greg Miraglia, NVC program coordinator, administration of justice & LGBT studies, and Damien Sandoval, director, NVC Criminal Justice Training Center, to deliver the training developed by Miraglia and offered by NVC’s Criminal Justice Training Center. 

“It was an honor to represent the Napa Valley College Criminal Justice Training Center at the FBI Academy and to show law enforcement leaders from throughout the United States the training we developed here at Napa Valley College,” said Miraglia.

The current FBI class of 108 students represented local, state and federal law enforcement agencies worldwide. Students in the training learned about LGBTQ+ history, LGBTQ+ terminology, sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as how to create an inclusive workplace, and how to more effectively respond to and provide service for the community. 

Napa Valley College students attending the basic police academy, corrections academy, and 9-1-1 dispatcher academy have been receiving this LGBT awareness training for several years. This instruction is part of the academy’s community policing and cultural diversity training. The Criminal Justice Training Center is currently providing LGBT awareness training to law enforcement agencies throughout California and the United States.

While California requires this training for all peace officers and 9-1-1 dispatchers, training courses involving LGBTQ+ issues are rarely offered around the country. The FBI training staff recognized the importance of this training and has committed to making it an integral part of new agent training as well as National Academy training moving forward.

About the NVC Criminal Justice Training Center
The Criminal Justice Training Center at Napa Valley College is one of the regional law enforcement training centers serving California that is certified by the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training.  The Criminal Justice Training Center delivers basic and advanced law enforcement training to peace officers, correctional officers, and 9-1-1 dispatchers from throughout California.

About the FBI
The FBI is an intelligence-driven and threat-focused national security organization with both intelligence and law enforcement responsibilities. It is the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Justice and a full member of the U.S. Intelligence Community. The FBI has the authority and responsibility to investigate specific crimes assigned to it and to provide other law enforcement agencies with cooperative services, such as fingerprint identification, laboratory examinations, and training. The FBI also gathers, shares, and analyzes intelligence, both to support its own investigations and those of its partners and to better understand and combat the security threats facing the United States.

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