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Capt. Gabriel Guzman is the city’s first police officer in 20 years to be accepted into the FBI National Academy in Quantico, VA, Mayor Hector Carlos Lora said.
Less than one-half of 1% of police officers worldwide are ever invited to the specialized 10-week program, which is designed to enhance the physical and mental capabilities of ranking officers.
Participation is by invitation-only and is awarded through a nomination process.
Courses included law, behavioral science, forensic science, terrorism, leadership development, communication, technology, and health/fitness, among others.
Officers participate in a wide range of leadership and specialized training -- sharing ideas, techniques, and experiences. As a result, they emerge with partnerships that extend beyond borders, which can often help solve crimes and better protect citizens.
To graduate, the participants must complete the infamous “Yellow Brick Road,” made famous in “Silence of the Lambs”: a six-mile run through a hilly, wooded trail designed by the U.S. Marines.
Along the way, they must scale walls, dash through creeks, dive through simulated windows, rappel faces, crawl under barbed wire in muddy water and maneuver across cargo nets.
Those who make it through get a symbolic yellow brick — the same as those placed by Marines to show the way through the trail.
Born in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic in 1978, Guzman came with his family to Passaic in 1985 and went through the city school system and graduated from Passaic High School in 1997.
He was graduated from Rutgers University in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and joined the city police department a year later.
Guzman began as a foot patrolman in the Urban Enterprise Zone, then in a cruiser, before becoming a detective.
He then was assigned to the department’s elite Emergency Response Team, which handled high-risk search warrants and other tactical assignments, before heading back to the Uniformed Patrol Division as a sergeant.
Guzman returned to the detective bureau before being reassigned to Internal Affairs.
He was promoted to captain in 2016 and currently serves as the non-uniformed commander in charge of the Detective Bureau, Youth Services Division and School Resource Officers Unit.
Guzman has received several awards and commendations, including a Passaic County 200 Club Meritorious Award and Passaic Police PBA Deputy Chief JR Russo Humanitarian Award for capturing a murder suspect.
He also received a letter of recognition from the FBI for helping identify and arrest a Passaic bank robbery suspect.
Guzman and his wife, Jennifer, a city public school nurse, have been married for 14 years. They have two teenage children, daughter, Gabriella, and son, Angel.
He attributes his accomplishments in life to his late parents, who raised him to be “respectful of others and to have unwavering commitment in reaching my goals.
The last Passaic police officer to attend the now-85-year-old FBI National Academy was Capt. Howie Symbol in 1998, Lora said.
Guzman reports to the 280th FBI National Academy in Quantico on March 30 and will be in training there through June 5, the mayor said.
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