Goleta chief completes FBI accreditation

By David Downs
South Coast Beacon

Goleta’s police chief is back in action and FBI approved.

Lt. Don Patterson returns to duty Dec. 15 after 11 weeks at the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia. The Goleta local and 240 other police leaders from around the world studied, sleuthed and slogged their way to FBI accreditation.

Patterson, who holds a doctorate in human organizational systems from the Fielding Institute, in addition to a masters in organizational development and a bachelors in criminal justice, said graduating from the academy Dec 6. has been a lifelong goal.

Patterson took three undergraduate and two graduate courses accredited through the University of Virginia, in addition to some extra classes.

“There really wasn’t any top secret stuff. The closest we got was executive leadership class; we had a teacher who worked in international terrorism and told us about some of the things going on there,” he said.

No Baghdad police chiefs were present at the training, said Patterson, though a company was recruiting retired police officers to work abroad as law enforcement teachers in the Middle East and South East Asia.

Patterson said distance from his wife and city proved the hardest part of the quarter. The 6.2-mile final run wasn’t a piece of cake, either.

“They have a physical fitness challenge that includes attending all fitness classes. You have to go out and run, which increases while you are there to 6.2 miles, 2.5 miles of it in an obstacle course. It’s called the yellow brick road.”

Over an hour and 15 minutes, the yellow brick road broke one woman’s arm and took Patterson through forests and snow, over walls and up cargo nets, through windows and the mud. His reward — a yellow brick. He keeps it with the National Academy certificate. The slim Patterson gained seven pounds at the academy while trimming body fat 1.5 percent.

Patterson intends to hit the ground running when he returns to work Monday. Numerous grants to garner police equipment are pending, and an alarm ordinance for the city requires review.

Most leadership in the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department has gone or will go to the academy, which has a worldwide membership 36,999 strong.

The United States Government paid for Patterson’s time in the National Academy program.