As Brandon Stone describes his detective training, you can almost hear the iconic Law & Order ba-bum in the background.

“Classes such as interview/interrogation,” he enumerates, “sexual assault investigation, organized crime/gang investigations, forensic/crime scene photography, case management/evidence, court testimony and case prep…homicide/suicide/death investigations.” Also classes for crime lab training, fingerprint recovery, crimes against children, and other essentials.

In April, Stone and Richard Camillo, both Boston University Police Department (BUPD) officers, took the Boston Police Department’s detective formation training, the instruction required of Boston officers who are promoted to detective. The idea came from Kelly Nee, the University’s new chief of police, who says more officers will attend this and other training programs going forward.

“Any type of training keeps officers sharp,” says Nee. “These officers will never look at a crime scene in quite the same way, and they can impart their knowledge to other responding officers. It also benefits the department,” by building a closer relationship with Boston police.

Brandon Stone called his detective coursework “the best training that I have ever attended.”

Richard Camillo was one of two BUPD officers who took the BPD training.

The course concluded with a mock crime scene staged at an abandoned school, where the trainees had to collect fingerprints, take photographs, and recover and package evidence.

“This was easily the best training that I have ever attended in my 12-year law enforcement career,” says Stone, who enjoyed revisiting the Boston Police Academy, where he trained as a recruit in 2005. “I feel extremely fortunate to have learned from such veteran detectives.”

Stone expects to tap his new expertise on a regular basis at BU—whether he becomes a detective or not. Every crime incident starts with patrol officers responding, he says, “and having such investigative knowledge will assist me in ensuring the preservation of crime scenes, help me investigate as a first responding officer, and give me the tools needed to do the best job I can.”

Nee says that more BUPD officers have asked for this and other training, and some of that training will happen at BU this summer with a management institute run by the Police Executive Research Forum, which offers education and assistance to law enforcement agencies.

“This is considered to be premier leadership training,” Nee says. By attending, her command staff will learn “leadership principles and policies from all over the country. Policing across our country is changing. We need to stay as current and engaged as possible.”