The FBI National Academy offers elite, invitation-only training that local participants say they will call upon for the rest of their careers in law enforcement.

Deputy Peabody police Chief Scott Carriere completed the 10-week program in March. Danvers Chief Neil Ouellette is enrolled now in the academy's spring session.

"You go there with your own perspective on policing based on the community or the state that you work in, and now you're getting a look at where that fits in on a global level," Carriere said.

Four times a year, classes of roughly 250 officers from throughout the country and around the world take undergraduate and graduate-level college courses at the FBI's campus in Quantico, Va. Students pick courses from a diverse curriculum that includes law, behavioral and forensic science, understanding terrorism/terrorist mindsets, and leadership development.

The classroom work is complemented with fitness challenges that culminate in a 6.1-mile run through a hilly, wooded trail with various obstacles. Officers climb walls, run through creeks, scale rock faces and crawl under barbed wire.

"It's sort of the West Point of law enforcement," said Peabody police Chief Robert Champagne, who went through the program in 1991. "It's intense training and intense schooling at a high level."

Less than 1 percent of police in this country attend. Prospective candidates must be nominated by a program graduate and selected by an FBI area commander. The federal government pays for the training, including the officers' travel.

The 236 men and women in Carriere's class had an average of 19 years of law enforcement experience. Most held "executive level" positions, according to an academy press release. Twenty-five came from foreign countries.

"It's a learning experience just about every minute that you are there," said Capt. Paul Tucker of Salem, a 1997 graduate. Lt. Tom Griffin and Capt. Brian Gilligan of Salem are also alums.

Tucker said he still communicates with a network of contacts from his time in Virginia. Carriere said a classmate from Saudi Arabia recently e-mailed him for advice.

"There's an awful lot of learning that takes place person to person," Champagne said.

There is plenty of opportunity to talk shop. The officers live in dormitories with no television in their rooms.

"The bond (that forms) is just unbelievable," Carriere

The National Academy program began in 1935 and was created in response to a 1930 study that called for centralized training to enhance the professionalism of police departments throughout the country.

When he attended in 2007, Peabody deputy Chief Martin Cohan, who oversees the department's detectives, took classes that highlighted cutting-edge investigative techniques.

Carriere, named a deputy this winter, tailored his course of study to help him implement a more proactive approach to policing in Peabody. He took classes on executive leadership and organizational change and management, among other subjects.

The experience has already benefited Peabody's department.

"You become a much more efficient manager," Carriere said.