Kansas City Community Outreach
Kansas City Community Outreach
Kansas City, like each of the FBI’s local field offices, has a community outreach program that complements and strengthens our many efforts to protect you, your businesses, and your families in concrete ways through a range of activities and initiatives.
Our recent activities include:
- We recently presented our annual Director’s Community Leadership Award to Richard T. Bryant, an essential member of the Kansas City FBI Citizens Academy Alumni Association (CAAA) and serves on the local board as well as the national board.
- Our Citizens’ Academy hosts a cross section of approximately 27 community, business, civic, religious, and non-profit leaders to learn firsthand about our operations and programs. The academy not only demystifies our work but also creates new contacts and channels for working together and sharing information. Learn more, including how to apply.
The Citizens Academy Alumni Association recently provided support to the Kansas City Division by participating in a field training exercise. FBI Kansas City, working with a major league sporting stadium, provided realistic training that focused on honing the region’s emergency response capabilities and multi-agency coordinated action should an actual emergency response event occur. As part of this exercise, members of the Kansas City Division’s Citizens Academy Alumni Association volunteered to play the role of sports fans. The participants were placed in a portion of the stadium simulating one section of a large sports arena. Without warning, there was a massive explosion, and the stadium’s personnel and equipment—such as the electronic scoreboards, banners, and microphones—were used to direct the “fans” from the stadium. The alumni role players, who at this point had potentially been exposed to radiological agents, were escorted calmly from the stadium, out of the immediate area of concern. They then passed through equipment placed to reduce the threat of spreading radiological contamination and were ushered to another secure area where decontamination tents were set up. Pictures from the excercise are below.Field training exercise, street scene Field training exercise, decontamination scene
The Citizens Academy Alumni Association and the Kansas City Division also recently hosted the graduation of the 21st Kansas City Citizens Academy class. This year’s guest speaker was Mr. Stanley Alpert, who told the motivational story chronicled in his book, The Birthday Present. Mr. Alpert, a former Assistant United States Attorney, was abducted at gunpoint off the streets of New York and held for 30 hours. His tale is one of survival and intrigue. Additionally, at this most recent graduation, the Citizens Academy Alumni Association and the Sons of the American Revolution honored three individuals for their acts of heroism. Pictures from the graduation are below.Stanley Alpert Sons of the American Revolution
- The Kansas City Division hosted the Junior Special Agent graduation ceremony, where Assistant Special Agent in Charge Dan Jones administered the oath of office to the graduates. The program ran during the 2011–2012 school year, with special agents and support personnel providing instruction to the fourth grade students at Garcia Elementary every other Wednesday for the duration of the school year.
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Two classes of students take the oath in the Junior Special Agent Program. In this program, we provide 16 weeks of lessons to the fourth grade students at Primitivo Garcia Elementary School in Kansas City.
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- We hosted our annual Youth Leadership Academy on June 29, 2012. The academy is comprised of students entering their junior and senior years of high school who have been nominated for participation by their schools. Approximately 45 students from area high schools attended the eight-hour program, where topics covered included an overview of the FBI and our jurisdiction, careers with the FBI, the internship program, cyber crimes, hostage negotiations, evidence recovery, and SWAT demonstrations. Learn More
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| Youth Leadership Academy participants |
- The FBI Kansas City Division partnered with the Mexican Consulate office in Kansas City to host a Community Relations Executive Seminar Training (CREST). The program, which took place on Thursday, April 11, 2013, provided a forum in which the FBI could provide educational information and briefings on specific topics of interest and concern to leaders of the Hispanic community, including civil rights, hate crimes, identity theft, and a general overview of the FBI. The CREST event proved to be an excellent avenue for an open exchange of dialogue and friendship. More info and photos
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| Supervisory Special Agent in Charge (SSA) Heith Janke (standing) speaks during a panel discussion on civil rights/hate crimes at the CREST, hosted April 11, 2013 at the Mexican Consulate. Seated, from left to right, are First Assistant United States Attorney David Ketchmark of the Western District of Missouri, FBI Special Agent Steve Leippert, and FBI Victim Specialist Wende Baker. |
Among our other ongoing efforts:
- Meeting with minority groups and civic organizations to talk about what the FBI can do with them and for them and hosting town hall meetings as needed to dialogue on key issues;
- Supporting our Citizens Academy graduates, who have formed a non-profit FBI Citizens Academy Alumni Association that helps create crime prevention programs and other initiatives to benefit communities and that fosters activities to continue the partnerships formed during the academy;
- Supporting congressional briefing and range day for area U.S. congressional offices;
- Holding Community Relations Executive Seminar Training (CREST) events;
- Partnering with the American Football Coaches Association and its National Child Identification Program to distribute Child ID kits at football games and other events; and
- Sending our special agents and professional support staff into schools, businesses, and civic meetings to explain emerging crime and security threats and to provide specific advice on how to prevent being victimized by these threats. To request a speaker, visit this webpage.
Visit our national In Your Community website for more information about our overall outreach efforts and our work in other local FBI offices.
