PALMYRA, MO. -- An officer with the Marion County Sheriff's Department has added FBI tactics to her crime-fighting arsenal.

Sergeant Regina Webb is a criminal investigator with the department. She recently graduated from the FBI National Academy.  It's one of the top honors in police work; less than two percent of all law enforcement officers in the world are chosen to attend.

Sgt. Webb is back at work in Marion County.  She was one of 255 officers from 48 states and 23 foreign countries to learn from the greatest minds in law enforcement at the FBI training ground at Quantico, Virginia.

Sgt. Webb said, 'You've never get training like this anywhere else."

She went through 10-and-a-half weeks of classes with topics ranging from how to manage major crime scenes and death investigations to criminal profiling. In fact, she learned that from the professionals who created it, who first interviewed serial killers like Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy.

In addition to the academic work (including 12 research papers), there were massive physical challenges packed into the academy.

In law enforcement, a yellow brick Webb now displays is a crowning achievement, and one that she is proud to say she has earned.

It symbolizes her completion of the yellow brick road - a six-and-a-half mile run through a Marine Corps obstacle course. It requires folks to push their limits climbing cliffs and topping barriers.

Sgt. Webb said, "You're thinking you're not going to make it, but when you get to the finish line, it's something you can't even imagine."

Now back in Marion County, her new training has honed her investigation skills, making her more prepared to handle whatever crime may come her way.  It also has given her a network of elite collegues to call on in the future.

Sgt. Webb said, "We still are in contact with each other if we need something from all of those people all over the world. We call them and we instantly have that. The networking, the knowledge to bring back and the sense of the community and to be proactive instead of reactive to crime."

Officers have to be nominated by other academy graduates or an FBI agent to attend. Nominees also have to have extended, distinguished careers in law enforcement.

Marion County Sheriff Jimmy Shinn and Adams County Sheriff Brent Fischer have completed the same program in different sessions.

Other local graduates include Deputy Chief Curt Kelty with the Quincy Police Department and Keokuk Police Chief Tom Crew.