Chief Cook Back, Praises School - Police Head Returns From FBI Training Classes

Chief Cook Back, Praises School

Police Head Returns From FBI Training Classes

Police Chief Norman E. Cook, who graduated last Saturday from the national police academy conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, returned home yesterday from Washington, D. C., full of praise for the training provided at the school.

After 11 weeks of intensive "cramming," from 12 to 15 hours a day, Chief Cook looked a bit tired, and the police commission told him to take a week’s vacation before resuming his duties as head of the Ann Arbor police department.

He had little rest yesterday, however, for members of the police department and other friends kept him busy answering questions about the FBI academy. He was officially welcomed back by his fellow officers and members of the police commission with a dinner last night in the GAR room.

Thorough Course

Chief Cook described the FBI course as "very, very practical and thorough," explaining that he had returned with scores of new ideas in police work which he believed would be beneficial not only to himself but to the department and to the community.

“Attending such a school,” he said, “is like trading in a 1910 automobile for a 1940 model.”

Under the rules of the academy the "students” are required to conduct training courses for their departments following their return home, and Chief Cook said he hoped such a course could be arranged in the near future.

"Through what I have learned, especially in the field of police administration, I should be a better public servant," he said, “and the department should benefit through better direction. We also should be able to improve on our handling of criminals and investigation of crimes."

“It is too bad,” he said, “that every law enforcement officer can not have the opportunity to attend the academy. The day has come when it is not a police job. It is a police profession. We must work in the same manner as all professional people work.

“A police officer should be a gentleman in every case,” Chief Cook added, explaining that “an officer can accomplish far more by intelligence than by the old methods, such as the 'third degree,” and he can get a lot more valuable co-operation.”

Patience Stressed

Among the “most valuable lessons” he learned was the value of patience, perseverance, observation and thoroughness, particularly in looking for and preserving evidence in crime detection. He cited crimes solved by FBI agents through patience and attention to detail to illustrate his point.

Although he majored in police administration, Chief Cook received instruction in 70 different subjects, including investigative procedure, memory development, criminal "trademarks,” police organization, searches, the detection of deception, fingerprinting and moulage prints, metallurgy and chemistry’s role in crime detection.

He also studied glass fissures— so that he can tell you which of six bullets was fired through a pane of glass first—the investigation of a hit-run accident, in which a bit of paint on the victim’s clothes may lead to the identification of the driver; and the value of complete records. Incidentally,
the local police records installed under Chief Cook’s direction were patterned after the FBI system.

Chief Cook won recognition at the academy when he found the vital evidence—a piece of a broken button from a man’s vest—which led to the apprehension of the murderer of Oscar, the FBI’s oft-murdered dummy. Chief Cook was in charge of one squad of eight “students” which solved the murder after a four-hour investigation.

Given Arms Training
Besides the school room classes, which were conducted on the lecture and forum basis by a staff which Chief Cook described as "the best in the world,” the officers attending the academy were given training in the use of all types of firearms. On Memorial day, Chief Cook engaged in rifle practice while crawling through mud in a heavy rainstorm.
Chief Cook, one of 38 police officers to graduate from the academy, said that "for a time, as a result of the present national emergency FBI Chief J. Edgar Hoover and his staff thought it would be necessary to discontinue the training of policemen. After an analysis of the situation, however, they decided the work was so valuable to the FBI and to the nation that it should be continued," he said.