FBI Graduates Citizens’ Academy Class

Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Patrick J. Maley announced today that the FBI Citizens’ Academy Birmingham class of 2009 will graduate tonight at 6:00 p.m. This year’s class is comprised of 20 business and community leaders.

“Creating relationships through dialogue with the community is central to the FBI’s mission. Programs like the Citizens’ Academy allow community leaders to engage in dialogue with local FBI officials and helps to demystify the FBI. By doing so, it creates a better understanding of the FBI’s work on a local and national level,” stated SAC Maley.

The program, which began in 1993 in the Phoenix office of the FBI has expanded to all 56 FBI field offices. Nearly half of which opened after September 11, 2001—a clear sign of how much the FBI values community partnerships in this era of homeland security and increasingly complex crime. The program provides attendees insight on the structure and operations of the FBI, as well as practical problems involving evidence collection and intelligence gathering. The goal of the FBI Citizens’ Academy is to foster relationships and understanding between the local FBI field office and the community.