GLYNCO, Ga. — The Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) selects local community member Ariana M. Roddini as assistant director for the Training Management Operations Directorate (TMO). Assistant Director Roddini assumed the role November 10, 2019.
“What I do every day is really a sense of service and a sense of being a part of something bigger than myself,” stated Roddini. “When people are drawn to law enforcement, it is really about helping others and putting others before yourself.”
Roddini’s law enforcement career began in 1994, protecting the public in state and local capacities in New York City. Two years later, she began her training as a federal law enforcement officer for the United States Secret Service (USSS) at FLETC-Glynco.
“I trained here in 1996, and it was just an area I fell in love with, it’s a beautiful area,” said Roddini. “We are this amazing training facility located in the great county of Glynn County. I see us not only as a resource to law enforcement but a resource for the community as well.”
Roddini’s time as a USSS special agent would take her back to New York City and to Washington, D.C. As a criminal investigator, she conducted complex investigations relating to counterfeit currency, organized crime, terrorism, computer, bank and access device fraud, as well as threats against the United States President. She felt the support of her law enforcement family in these larger cities, but she often reminisced about the sense of community felt during her time spent in the Golden Isles.
“It is just an environment you don’t encounter when you’ve grown up in a large city,” said Roddini. “Where people truly do take the time to stop and say hello and ask how you are doing and just really reach out to you in the time of need … there’s somebody who is always willing to lend a helping hand.”
In 2006, Roddini returned to Saint Simons Island with her husband and two children after accepting a senior instructor position at FLETC-Glynco with the Enforcement Operations Division. She has served in diverse and challenging leadership roles throughout her time with the organization.
Dedicated to serving others, Roddini now has her sights on guiding and leading the TMO Directorate by providing oversight and strategic direction to 10 training divisions in support of FLETC’s role as the national enterprise resource for law enforcement training.
“I really want to focus on producing quality training that ensures we are training law enforcement officers in their operating environment, and facing the future trends or threats that they may encounter in the field. As a consolidated training model, our focus includes being efficient and utilizing the government resources and tax dollars to the best of our ability in training people.”
“We are a resource not only to the law enforcement community, but the community as a whole,” added Roddini. “FLETC serves the local community by providing training to students and school resource officers, to the health care community, and to local law enforcement.”
Her role in the local community is not only in a professional capacity, but it is personal as well.
“I have a husband that works at the FLETC and I have a daughter who is a junior at Glynn Academy and a son who is an eighth-grader at the middle school, so they have gone through the public-school system in Glynn County,” said Roddini.
“It really does take a village to raise a family, particularly when you are a working parent. I have surrounded myself with people that are our second family to us here, helping raise our children. There is a sense of belonging and community that you feel every day.”
With her feet planted in the Golden Isles and her New York City roots, Roddini has seized every challenge as an opportunity and offers this to those young adults who may one day follow her example in the law enforcement career field.
“Be true to yourself. Hard work pays off. See every day as an opportunity. Push your boundaries and don’t set limitations for yourself or allow others to.”
At the end of each duty day as Roddini travels home, she is grateful for the opportunity to live and work in the Golden Isles and raise her family here.
“In my opinion there is nothing prettier than seeing the sunrise or sunset driving back and forth from work over the causeway—seeing the oak trees and just the environment that these barrier islands have. It’s just a stunning view every day. I felt that from the day I came through training and still feel it every day that I have lived here the past 13 years.”
FLETC trains the majority of federal law enforcement officers and agents in the United States. In addition to providing training for over 90 federal participating organizations, FLETC provides training to state, local, tribal, and international police in advanced programs. FLETC graduates approximately 70,000 students annually and is the largest law enforcement training organization in the country.
Headquartered on a 1600-acre campus at Glynco, near Brunswick, Georgia, FLETC also operates facilities in Artesia, New Mexico; Charleston, South Carolina; and Cheltenham, Maryland.
FLETC Assistant Director Ariana M. Roddini, Training Management Operations Directorate. (Official Photo)
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