“One of the great benefits was networking with other law enforcement leaders from 47 states and 24 countries,” he said.
Law enforcement officers were instructed on a litany of topics, including intelligence theory, terrorism, forensic science, law, behavioral science, operations and leadership, as well as physical fitness. Before graduation, Maynard and his classmates took the Yellow Brick Road fitness challenge: a 6.1-mile run and obstacle course built by the Marines stationed at Quantico.
Maynard started his police career with the Fairfield Police Department as a patrol officer in 1999. He worked his way through the ranks and now commands day-to-day operations, overseeing patrol officers, park rangers and animal control officers. He’s been a detective, field training officer and firearms instructor, and he is the sniper commander for the Hamilton-Fairfield SWAT Team.
“Lt. Maynard has distinguished himself as a leader in the police department,” said Fairfield Police Chief Mike Dickey.
Maynard was nominated to attend by Dickey, who attended the program 1984 when he was the New Lebanon police chief. The chief said the program “immerses the student.”
Maynard said part of his job as a police supervisor is to “make sure you’re taking care of your officers,” a lesson that was reinforced in Quantico.
A lot of times it’s easy to find online and within the community appreciation of police officers, but Maynard said it’s still “a trying time” for police officers. It’s easy to turn on the television and walk away with the impression “that a lot of people don’t like cops, especially in today’s environment with some of the issues that are going around in the country.”
Fairfield Police Department had a trying time in June 2015 when police officers arrested two adults and two juveniles after a large fight broke out at the Fairfield Aquatics Center, and Maynard led a class while at Quantico on this incident. The incident was on cellphone video and officers were accused by those arrested of using excessive force. The involved officers were cleared.
“Ultimately what we did was right,” Maynard said, “but we didn’t look very good the way the media was portraying us.”
Maynard said that a strong belief he had before heading to the FBI program, and was reinforced while there, “is that we have a good police department.”
“We have a good relationship with our community, and our community in general appreciates what we do,” Maynard said. “It’s one of my jobs as a leader to constantly remind our officers why we all chose this profession — to help people.”
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