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
JoAnn Benson
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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
FBI New Haven is not accepting Citizens Academy nominations at this time.
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.
The Future Law Enforcement Youth Academy (FLEYA) training program is an overnight camp in which students are chaperoned by sworn law enforcement and FBI employees. The chaperones chosen who will oversee the daily and evening events include Yale Police Department officers, FBI employees, and FBI National Academy Alumni. Each alumni officer will originate from the county that the students represent. This will act as a way to promote ongoing communication and networking between law enforcement and the students after the program ends.
Students receive specific classroom training and practical exercises in investigative forensics, use of cyber technology techniques for combating violent crime, counter intelligence, gang awareness, civil rights (hate crimes), and many more violations of state and federal law. This unique training will include classes with federal agents, assistant U.S. attorneys and state attorneys, local police, and judges.
To Apply
FBI New Haven is accepting applications for the 2020 Future Law Enforcement Youth Academy (FLEYA) program.
The 2020 FLEYA will be held at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, from Sunday, July 26, 2020, to Saturday, August 1, 2020. A completed application and essay must be sent in PDF format to FLEYAprogram@fbi.gov (email is preferred, but applications may be faxed to (203) 503-5098, attn: Community Outreach Specialist). Applications are due by 5 p.m. on Friday, April 3, 2020 (no exceptions).
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.
The FBI has an awareness campaign to educate the public about the consequences of making hoax threats of violence to schools, events, and other public places. The Think Before You Post campaign serves to remind everyone that any threat is taken with the utmost seriousness and will be quickly and thoroughly addressed by law enforcement. Hoax threats are not a joke; they are a crime.
In the aftermath of tragic shootings like the ones at Santa Fe High School in Texas and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, the FBI and law enforcement agencies around the country often see an increase in threats made to schools, events, and other public buildings. Issuing a threat—even over social media, via text message, or through email—is a federal crime (threatening interstate communications). Those who post or send these threats can receive up to five years in federal prison, or they can face state or local charges.
Don’t Be a Puppet: Pull Back the Curtain on Violent Extremism is an interactive website that uses activities, quizzes, videos, and other materials to teach teens how to recognize violent extremist messaging and become more resistant to self-radicalization and possible recruitment.
The website makes teens aware of the destructive reality of various forms of violent extremism, including hateful attacks based on race, religion, or other factors. Through its Don’t Be a Puppet theme, the program encourages teens to think for themselves and display a healthy skepticism if they come across anyone who appears to be advocating extremist violence.
The Community Awareness Presentation (CAP) is a shorter, more focused version of the FBI Citizens Academy program and is conducted in partnership with a specific community group, generally at an offsite location. The program is designed to build trust and strengthen relationships between the FBI and the communities we serve. Community groups are encouraged to identify topics that are of concern or relevant to their group or organization for the FBI to discuss. Classes are taught by FBI subject matter experts. Generally the participants are selected by members of their organizations or community and there is no restriction on audience size. To request a presentation, please contact your local FBI field office.
The New Haven FBI offers public speakers on a limited basis on a variety of topics pertaining to the Bureau’s investigative mission. All requests for speakers must be received in writing and include the following information:
Date, time, and place of presentation
Approximate length of presentation
Specific topic(s) to be addressed
Intended audience (industry professionals, general public, students, etc.) and audience size
Contact information