The FBI’s Community Outreach Program supports the Bureau’s investigative mission by working to address multiple interrelated societal problems—including crime, drugs, gangs, terrorism, and violence. Linking community service, prevention, and law enforcement is a national trend spurred by grass roots efforts around the country, and FBI employees have joined this movement, volunteering in a wide variety of community-related efforts.
Outreach Specialist
(915) 832-5376Social Media Outreach
The Citizens Academy is an engaging six-to-eight-week program that gives business, religious, civic, and community leaders an inside look at the FBI. Classes meet in the evening at the FBI field office. The mission of the FBI Citizens Academy is to foster a greater understanding of the role of federal law enforcement in the community through frank discussion and education.
Candidates are nominated by FBI employees, former Citizens Academy graduates, and community leaders. Participants are selected by the special agent in charge of the local FBI field office.
To Apply
To nominate yourself or another community leader, please send your name, email address, and phone number along with the name of the organization or any other community group you will be representing to FBI_EP_OUTREACH@FBI.GOV.
Your name will be added to our list in order to send you the application for the next class, tentatively scheduled to begin mid-March 2025. Thank you.
Since 1990, the Director’s Community Leadership Awards has been the principal means for the FBI to publicly recognize achievements of individuals and organizations that make extraordinary contributions to education and the prevention of crime and violence in their communities. Each field office nominates an individual or organization for the award, and, once selected, the recipients are invited to a ceremony and reception at FBI Headquarters.
Our Teen Academy program allows high school students an opportunity to get a comprehensive look into today’s FBI. Generally, each course iteration is a minimum of eight hours but can be a week-long program with blocks of instruction and demonstrations at a local field office. Students are provided with several presentations on topics including terrorism, cyber crime, public corruption, polygraph exams, evidence response, SWAT, and the day-to-day operations of a typical FBI office. Students also learn from special agents, intelligence analysts, language specialists, and professional staff about investigative tactics that include gathering evidence, interviewing witnesses, and assisting with cases.
2024 Spring Teen Academy
The next Teen Academy program will be held July 15 through July 19 at the FBI El Paso Field Office, 660 S. Mesa Hills, #3000, 79912 in the All Purpose Room.
Requirements
Students who are in 10th grade in the 2024-2025 school year are eligible to apply.
The selection process is competitive, and all students should give their best effort in completing this application. A selection committee will evaluate each application based on a review of the information provided, and no single element (GPA, school/community service, or essay) is disqualifying. Applications that are incomplete, illegible, or late will not be accepted.
Students are expected to advocate for themselves throughout this process, including asking for further information about the program or the application process, if necessary. Students may request information by contacting fbi_ep_outreach@fbi.gov at any time.
Applications
The application is due by May 30, 2024, by 5pm MST. Students selected to participate in the FBI Teen Academy will be given additional information about the program and will be required to confirm their acceptance into this program. If selected students do not respond to the acceptance email by the deadline given, the student’s application will be discontinue
If you have any further questions, please send an email to: fbi_ep_outreach@fbi.gov
The FBI Student Academy is a six-week course of instruction and demonstrations at a college campus. Students are provided with several presentations on topics that include terrorism, cyber, public corruption, polygraph exams, evidence response, SWAT, and day-to-day operations of a typical FBI office.
To Apply
The application for the FBI El Paso Student Academy is currently closed.
The Junior Special Agent Program aims to provide elementary school students the information, skills, and discipline necessary to stay away from gangs, drugs, and crime. Students also take a course in civics and learn about the FBI and the ways in which law enforcement helps to serve and protect their communities.
The Child ID app—the first mobile application created by the FBI—provides a convenient place to electronically store photos and vital information about your children on your smartphone (note: no information is stored or collected by the FBI). In the event your child goes missing, users can show the pictures and provide physical identifiers such as height and weight to security or police officers on the spot. Using a special tab on the app, users can also quickly and easily e-mail the information to authorities.
The app also includes tips on keeping children safe, as well as specific guidance on what to do in those first few crucial hours after a child goes missing.
The FBI, in partnership with the DEA, created a short documentary focusing on the crisis of prescription drug and opioid abuse. The film, Chasing the Dragon: The Life of an Opiate Addict, outlines the dangerous cycle of opioid and prescription drug abuse—how the problem starts, how the addiction takes hold, and how that addiction damages one’s life and body. High school students and all ages above are the target audience for this video and the curriculum/facilitated discussion that accompanies it.
FBI-SOS is a free, fun, and informative program that promotes cyber citizenship by educating students in third to eighth grades on the essentials of online security. For teachers, the site provides a ready-made curriculum that meets state and federal Internet safety mandates, complete with online testing and a national competition to encourage learning and participation. A secure online system enables teachers to register their schools, manage their classes, automatically grade their students’ exams, and request the test scores.
Anyone—young or old, in the U.S. or worldwide—can complete the activities on the FBI-SOS website. The testing and competition, however, are only open to students in grades 3-8 at public, private, or home schools in the U.S. or its territories.
