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
(901) 747-4300
Social Media Outreach
Community Relations Facebook
@FBIMemphis (Twitter)
@FBI (Instagram)
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.
Collegiate Academy
The FBI Memphis Field Office – Nashville Resident Agency, which covers middle and west Tennessee, is excited to partner with Tennessee State University on a FBI Collegiate Academy in the 2024-25 school year. This program will take college students behind the scenes of local FBI operations. Through presentations, demonstrations, and discussions, the FBI will outline investigative priorities, explore the various career opportunities within the FBI, develop real-world resume and interview skills, and take an inside look at how Evidence Response teams process evidence.
The program is not exclusive to students interested in or studying criminal justice. Due to the vast diversity in our workforce, any student with an interest in the FBI, what we do, and how the FBI addresses the concerns of the community is encouraged to apply.
Minimal Requirements
- Be a U.S. citizen.
- Attend Tennessee State University full-time as an undergraduate, graduate, or post-doctoral student or a recent graduate (within the last 2 years).
- Have a 3.0 cumulative grade point average (GPA) or better at the time of application.
- Be in good standing with Tennessee State University.
How to Apply
Students need to submit the FBI Collegiate Academy application and a resume (include GPA) to ME_Outreach@fbi.gov no later than Monday, September 30. Resumes that fail to include a student’s GPA or submitted late will not be considered. Students should include a good email address and monitor their inbox as they will be notified of their application status via email.
Students selected to attend the FBI Collegiate Academy will be given additional information about the program and will be required to confirm their planned attendance.
Questions regarding the FBI Collegiate Academy or the application process can be directed to our team, by email at ME_Outreach@fbi.gov.
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.
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.
