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Audio Transcript

Mollie Halpern: It’s referred to as the “baddest” town in the United States.

Hogan’s Alley sits on 10 acres of land where gunfire is a familiar sound.

The bad guys often resist arrest.

And the town’s bank?

R. A. Glass: The bank of Hogan’s Alley is the most robbed bank in the United States of America—it averages at least five bank robberies a week.

Halpern: Here’s the catch: Hogan’s Alley is actually a mock town at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, but prepares new agent trainees for real life-and-death situations.

Trainees take what they’ve learned in the FBI Academy classrooms and apply it at Hogan’s Alley, where instructors run them through scenarios reflecting cyber, criminal, and terrorist attacks.

Students are evaluated, and their success determines whether the FBI bestows them with a badge.

The FBI is celebrating the 30th anniversary of Hogan’s Alley this year. The town is one of the oldest training grounds for law enforcement in the country.

Chief R.A. Glass of the Tactical Training Unit says plans are in the works for upgrades to the buildings.

Glass: To include having the venues wired for cameras so that we can record the trainees as they go through and be able to provide them with a visual feedback on their actions.

Halpern: In Hogan’s Alley, I’m Mollie Halpern of the Bureau with FBI, This Week.