Lt. Andrew Cota, will be leaving next week for a 10-week training program at the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Va.
The exclusive leadership course will expose Cota to police from around the planet. He’ll receive college credit for the police classes.
He’s only the second active member of the Ansonia Police Department to receive the training. Chief Kevin Hale graduated from the FBI Academy in 2001.
Cota, a married father with two sons, recently sat down with the Valley Indy to talk about law enforcement.
Valley Indy How old are you?
Lt. Cota: 40.
Valley Indy: How long have you been a police officer?
Cota: 18 years.
Valley Indy: Why did you become a police officer?
Cota: I grew up around it. My father was a police officer. (His father is retired Derby Police Chief Andrew Cota.) When I got out of high school, I went to school for electrical engineering. I decided it wasn’t what I wanted to do and switched over to criminal justice.
Valley Indy: What do you like about police work?
Cota: It’s unique. It changes a little each day. I’m happy I made the change.
Valley Indy: What’s the best part of the job?
Cota: There a lot of things. Getting out there, being able to see cases from start to finish, get resolution on them, get arrests made and settle some things for some of the victims. We do the best we can.
Valley Indy: You’re now an administrator, having worked your way up from patrol.
Cota: I like having some say in the direction of the police department. Hopefully moving forward and being progressive.
Valley Indy: Can being a police administrator be more stressful than when you were out on the streets?
Cota: It’s a different stress. On the street, when problems happen, it’s stressful, but you react because you’ve been trained. As you move up, you become responsible for more people. It’s hard to get everyone on the same page and to get the word out to 40 other people.
Valley Indy: The chief said the FBI Academy is essentially leadership training. How do you think you’ll benefit.
Cota: I’m looking forward to getting the education. It’ll help me get my bachelor’s degree — I’m almost done. Two, it will allow me to see other police practices that are happening. When you’re in one area, you see what happens in front of you. Here, you get to speak to different officers from all over the country — even all over the world.
Valley Indy:Any mixed feelings about leaving the family for 10 weeks.
Cota: I’m proud to be selected. My wife and I have talked about it and we’ll get through it. Ten weeks sounds long, but it’s not a long time. My boys are both older, so it’ll be a little easier. When the chief went, his kids were all very small. It’s a once in a lifetime experience. My wife said there’s no way I can not take this chance. I think there’s only been three officers in department history that have done this.
Valley Indy We hear there’s a pretty tough physical training component.
Cota: I’ve been running, doing about five to six miles a day. I’ve been doing that since late last year, because I knew there was a good chance I would be going. I’m a little nervous because I’m not sure exactly what it is. Other officers have told me it’s demanding, but doable.
No where does it say how much this will cost or who foots the bill? I hope it’s not the tax payers of Ansonia.
The local municipality doesn’t pay for the FBI National Academy training.
Congratulations to Andy Cota on this achievement. He is one of the guys who deserves this kind of recognition and opportunity, for he is a man who has earned every stripe and every bar. He has been, in my opinion, what being a police officer is all about. And I have also heard that the physical part of the FBI academy is demanding because it doesn’t matter if you’re a Lieutenant or a Chief or a Patrol Officer, at the National Academy that equals one thing: Student. That is why not every LT is cut out to make this grade. My family has known Andy for many, many years and we wish him the best of luck with his career achievement of attending the FBI National Academy. Go get ’em Andy!
Thanks for clarifying the billing issue posted by Ramona, Eugene.
It seems there is seldom an achievement that can go without a negative argument. How about something along the lines that, ‘the things Andy will learn there over 10 weeks will help reinforce the mission statement, daily operations, and overall proficiency of the Ansonia PD in service of the citizens of the city.’ Is that something that (even though the taxpayer is not paying for this dinner out) every tax payer would want?
Ramona, If you were to call the police for an emergency, someone had committed a crime against your family and now you need the crime solved, would you not want the best possible organized officers with the best technology and training on the case for you and your family? This is not a vacation for LT. Cota, where the taxpayers would be paying for him to go to the spa. This is a a skills building boot camp where he will come back highly trained and with a better knowledge of every aspect of law enforcement and management. The question should be how many more can we get to go. I’m sorry that you are more concerned with who is going to pay the bill then the overall picture of the man that will come back and watch over and protect his town as if it were his own family. Maybe you should find out if he needs anything for his journey.