National Executive Institute Associates

The National Executive Institute Associates (NEIA) is a private, non-profit, public service foundation. Its membership consists of over 1150 graduates of the FBI's National Executive Institute. The NEI is a three-week executive training program offered by the FBI to the chief executive officers of the largest law enforcement organizations in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia. The primary purpose of the Associates is to assist in the continuing education and training of these executives. This is accomplished by an annual training conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, an annual research project, and the publication of various articles in the area of law enforcement. The NEIA Leadership Bulletin is published on this website on a regular basis. The articles may be downloaded and further disseminated without acquiring permission.

The National Executive Institute (NEI) was instituted by the FBI in 1976 in response to a plea from the Major Cities Chiefs organization. These chiefs complained to the FBI Director, Clarence M. Kelley, that there was no training program for chiefs of police responsible for the administration of large police organizations. Their observations were quite correct. The FBI began the program in 1976 and it quickly became recognized as one of the great law enforcement training programs in the world. While originally designed for law enforcement executives from the United States, it became apparent that the program would increase in value if invitations were extended to chiefs from other English-speaking nations. To date there have been thirty-four NEI classes at the FBI Academy, Quantico, Virginia. Over 1150 executives have graduated from the program.

The NEIA was formed in 1980. Its original and current objective is to provide continuing training and education to the graduates of the NEI. This program has also been quite successful. At the present time, the Associates have a close working relationship with the Major Cities Chiefs and the FBI Academy. However, it should be noted that the NEIA is an independent organization and has no formal affiliation with the FBI or any other government organization. While the Associates do publish research reports and articles of interest to the law enforcement community, it does not involve itself in trying to influence legislation. The NEIA presents the annual Penrith Award to a member for excellence in law enforcement administration. In addition, the Associates give a graduate studies scholarship to a child of an NEIA member annually.