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Headline Archives
 
TRAINING, TECHNOLOGY, AND FBI CULTURE:
Director Mueller testifies before the Senate Appropriations Committee

Photograph of Director MuellerYou may recall that last week Director Mueller testified before the House Appropriations Committee on the proposed FY 05 FBI budget. This week he gets down to some specifics: he is meeting with the Senate side to talk about 3 areas that critically impact operations:

  • training,
  • technology, and
  • that "FBI culture" you hear so much about.

Again, we encourage you to read the full statement. It goes into detail about FBI training initiatives. It accounts for the FBI's concerted efforts to catch up what Director Mueller describes as information technology that, upon his arrival in September 2001, was "several generations behind industry standards"-and tells how we are working to surpass those industry standards. It takes the issue of "FBI culture" head on, with Director Mueller noting in his opening statement that "the FBI's commitment to hard work, integrity, and dedication to protecting the United States is precisely the attribute a workforce needs to embrace and implement the transformation demanded of it."

We'd just like to say a little more about what, on the face of it, is the least exciting topic:

FBI training.

U.S. historian Daniel J. Boorstin once said about education, "Learning what you didn't know you didn't know."

For an FBI and a U.S. law enforcement community that is absolutely required to master its new responsibilities, that is, the universe of new criminal, cyber, and terrorist threats, all of them evolving, all of them interrelated, playing on a global stage, and using entirely new technology tools-well, only constant and constantly updated training can keep us learning-and acting on-what we didn't know we didn't know.

The FBI has been in the law enforcement training business since 1935, when it opened the doors of its original FBI Academy to 23 police officers from across the nation, instructing them for 12 weeks in scientific aids in crime detection, preparation of reports, criminal investigation techniques, administration, and organization.

The curriculum has changed a lot since then...the numbers of international students in attendance have skyrocketed...new programs have multiplied. We're now in the business of state-of-the-art training on up-to-the-minute topics for our own employees and for state, local, federal, and international law enforcement and criminal justice professionals. Here are just a few:

  • Counterterrorism modules, with practical problems, that include financial investigative techniques, source development strategies, and terrorist modus operandi.
  • Legal instruction in applying the U.S. Patriot Act, the Attorney General Guidelines, FISA law, and 4th and 5th amendment issues in the context of overseas investigations.
  • Cultural diversity training, including on Middle Eastern culture and values.
  • College of Analytical Studies that instruct FBI analysts and Joint Terrorism Task Force members in the range of global threats.
  • "Train the trainer" programs that reach at least 26,800 first responders across the nation in "basic counterterrorism"-to ensure the "ears and eyes" on American streets are hearing and seeing all danger signs and know what to do about them.

We hope this short summary will whet your appetite to read more-and not just the full statement , not just Director Mueller's opening statement, but also a more complete report on FBI Academy training programs.

 

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