Mr.
Schiff: Hi, welcome to "FBI 100, A Closer
Look." I'm Neal Schiff of the Bureau's Office
of Public Affairs along with FBI Historian Dr.
John Fox. John, the FBI at one time had the second
most popular tour in Washington, DC, second to
the White House?
Dr.
Fox: "Neal, the FBI tour was huge. Tens of
thousands of visitors came through each year.
And surprisingly it actually began as a couple
of display cabinets outside Director Hoover's
office in the early 1930s showing some of the
memorabilia from our biggest gangster cases."
Mr. Schiff: What made the tour a big success?
Dr. Fox: "I think Neal that the tour success
came because of the mystique and importance of
the FBI. People had a chance to not only go and
see some of the artifacts from our best cases,
but they actually got to walk around FBI Headquarters;
got to see people working in the Lab; they got
to see agents actually using firearms; they got
to see exactly how the FBI was working. Real people
doing real things to help protect their lives."
Mr.
Schiff: Of
course the firearms demonstration was always a
favorite but more importantly, not only was safety
emphasized, but the public, including children,
could actually talk with a Special Agent after
the demonstration, right?
Dr.
Fox: "In fact the agents were very good about
explaining how and why the Bureau had to use weapons.
That we were only using them to protect people's
lives."
Mr.
Schiff: The
FBI's history spreads across the Internet at www.fbi.gov.
From the FBI's Public Affairs office, along with
Bureau Historian Dr. John Fox, I'm Neal Schiff
with "FBI 100, A Closer Look."
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