The FBI Challenge Program: inspiring youth to a law enforcement career

Bob, the class valedictorian, walked confidently to the front of the high school auditorium and took his place at the lectern. His mother sat teary-eyed as her son addressed his class for the last time.

While it may appear to be a typical high school graduation, this ceremony, recently held at the Santa Teresa High School in San Jose, California, was different. Nearly a dozen FBI agents sat in the audience and on the speakers platform as a result of a new program initiated at the school.

The program was designed to help students like Bob, who, just a few months before, had been ready to drop out of high school. Instead, he joined a program that completely changed his attitude and interest in academics and in his future. As a result, he did much more than merely remain in school; he improved his academic standing and personal relationships with his classmates and teachers to the point where he was chosen valedictorian of his graduating class.

This article highlights the FBI Challenge Program at the Police and Fire Academy of Santa Teresa High School. The program works to refocus the lives of teenagers at risk of involvement in youth gang activities and drug abuse. It was designed to encourage, motivate, and inspire high school students of all ethnic, social, and economic backgrounds to stay in school, stay out of trouble, and consider a career in law enforcement.

Background

In 1993, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno encouraged and challenged Department of Justice employees to volunteer their time and talents to benefit their local communities. Employees of the San Jose, California, Resident Agency of the FBI took this challenge to heart and searched for opportunities in their community.

San Jose, California, located about 55 miles south of San Francisco, is the third most populous city in the State. As is the case in most large U.S. cities, it faces ever-increasing youth gang activities and illicit drug use.

The East Side Union High School District of San Jose was experiencing an especially significant problem with gangs and youth-related crime in and around its schools. The school superintendent and the San Jose Senior Supervisory Resident Agent agreed that the FBI volunteers should "adopt" a high school in this school district. The superintendent recommended Santa Teresa High School, a school with a unique police and fire academy program.

The Santa Teresa Police and Fire Academy

The Santa Teresa High School Police and Fire Academy was established in 1988 as a "magnet" program to draw students from all areas of San Jose who expressed an interest in a law enforcement career. While magnet programs usually recruit honors students, the Santa Teresa program takes a different approach. Over 64 percent of the academy's more than 200 students are minorities; inner-city, at-risk youths; and special education students. Many of them come to the school from economically disadvantaged areas of San Jose, a city where busing is common to promote educational equality.

A $250,000 Federal grant financed the academy initially, but when funding was cut later, it faced possible extinction. By then, the program had grown so popular that the students themselves raised the money to keep it alive, another quality that makes Santa Teresa's program extraordinary.

Today, leaders within the local law enforcement community make up most of the academy's advisory council and help guide the curriculum and programming. As a result, in addition to their regular academic courses, students receive hands-on law enforcement training with real-life applications. The academy director continually searches for volunteer instructors within the local law enforcement community to speak to the classes and to serve as positive role models for the students.

Generally, the students drawn to the academy would have become lost in traditional high school academic settings. These youths appear most susceptible to the allure of gangs and illicit drugs. Often, they are in danger of not completing high school. The Santa Teresa Police and Fire Academy, in conjunction with the FBI Challenge Program, helps to prevent these students from dropping out of school.

The FBI Challenge Program

The FBI Challenge Program began in February 1994, as a supplement to the academy program already in place. Staff members from the academy and the FBI developed an instructional program designed to motivate, encourage, and challenge the students to excel not only academically but also in their personal lives. FBI volunteers conduct presentations to help the students better understand the FBI's law enforcement role. As important, they serve as positive role models, discouraging student involvement in youth gangs and illicit drugs and stressing positive alternatives.

To spark the students' interest in a law enforcement career, the FBI volunteers designed a curriculum they believed teenagers would find informative and interesting. Twice-monthly training sessions, which last 50 minutes each, cover a variety of topics. Audio-visual materials, handouts, slides, overhead transparencies, and practical hands-on exercises accompany and reinforce each lecture.

The first session covers the history of the FBI and its jurisdiction. It also details the selection system for special agent and professional support positions.

The second session emphasizes the importance of completing high school and staying out of trouble, especially if students aspire to a career with the FBI or other law enforcement agencies. The presenter reviews the qualifications required for a law enforcement career, underscoring the need for trustworthy individuals whose background can withstand the close scrutiny of a thorough investigation.

The third session, based on the FBI's Drug Demand Reduction Program, urges students to go beyond just saying no to drugs and gangs. It suggests positive alternatives, such as joining clubs, playing sports, and volunteering in the community.

The fourth session discusses the uses and importance of fingerprints to law enforcement. Students learn the history of the FBI's fingerprint system and hear stories of criminals such as John Dillinger and Roscoe Pitts, who actually altered their fingerprints in attempts to avoid apprehension. After learning how to dust for fingerprints, the students practice uncovering latent prints.

The fifth session describes the training required for agents involved in crisis intervention, including members of the Hostage Rescue Team and Special Weapons and Tactics team. The presenter relates cases in which agents from these groups, working in concert with one another, resolved crisis incidents such as hijackings and hostage situations. In one such case, an FBI negotiator talked a hijacker into lowering his demands and surrendering - all for the price of a hamburger.

The sixth session, taking fingerprints, was added to the curriculum in response to student requests for additional fingerprint training. In this session, the students learn the basic fingerprint patterns and how to take a print. The instructor emphasizes proper technique and tests students on their ability to discern and correct problem areas.

The seventh session discusses the FBI's role in child abduction cases. In the past, the FBI would remove itself from cases that did not involve interstate flight. Now, however, the FBI remains committed to all abduction cases until they are resolved. In addition, child abduction matters illustrate the value of taking legible prints, which can help identify both suspects and the children they abduct.

Finally, the eighth session covers cultural diversity in law enforcement. The presenter stresses that the FBI and other law enforcement agencies employ men and women from every social, ethnic, and economic background. In short, every student in that class someday could have a career in law enforcement.

At the end of each class, the FBI volunteers test the students and rank them according to their scores. The top students receive awards at graduation, and all students who complete the program receive a certificate of achievement. Knowing this motivates all of the students to do well.

Putting It All Together

The program of instruction also includes a practical exercise in which the students assume the roles of FBI agents to solve a case, while FBI volunteers pose as victims, witnesses, and subjects. In this scenario, a man and a woman carjack a vehicle and abduct an infant. After fleeing in the stolen vehicle, the couple abandons the car and separates. The woman takes the baby to a nearby home, while the man threatens suicide from inside a van at a second location.

Thus, in three separate crime scenes, the students conduct interviews, take notes, collect latent fingerprints, conduct hostage negotiations, rescue a hostage, and/or make arrests to solve this mock crime. They also communicate with one another via handheld radios. This "final exam" puts everything the students have learned to the test.

Graduation

The first FBI Challenge Program culminated with a graduation exercise attended by parents, family, and friends of the students. Special guests included a member of the San Jose City Council, the assistant chief of the San Jose Police Department, and the assistant sheriff of the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office. In addition, the special agent in charge of the FBI's San Francisco Division and visiting constables from Scotland Yard served as guest speakers. Several local television stations covered this special event.

Program Evaluation

Throughout the year, the number of students who opted for additional classroom time attested to the success of the FBI Challenge Program. Still, the students completed a written evaluation to help improve the program for future classes.

Most of the students found the hands-on training to be the most motivating and interesting part of the program. In addition, the students complimented the FBI volunteers on their positive, enthusiastic, down-to-earth attitudes. Moreover, seeing FBI agents from diverse backgrounds helped all of the students realize that a law enforcement career and, indeed, even the special agent's position, is an attainable goal for which they can strive.

Conclusion

The future of law enforcement and of society may well depend on the generation of students currently in high school. Law enforcement officers should inspire them to pursue criminal justice careers, especially those students who might not consider the idea because of preconceived notions that their sex, social or economic standing, or ethnic background precludes them from such a career. Law enforcement officers can have a positive, long-lasting effect on today's youth, if only they will make the commitment.

Someone once said that a good teacher has an eternal effect on the future of society. Law enforcement officers also can shape society by serving as positive, inspirational role models for young people. It requires work, time, imagination, and personal involvement, but the rewards are everlasting.

RELATED ARTICLE: Santa Teresa High School Police and Fire Academy Curriculum

Law enforcement courses taught in addition to State-required academic courses

Taught by full-time academy instructors:

* Law education

* Conflict resolution

* Domestic violence

* Sexual harassment

* Child abuse

* Cultural diversity

* Radio usage and procedures

* Freshman English and report-writing skills

* Safety education

* Law enforcement careers

* Career planning and placement

Taught by FBI Challenge Program participants:

* The history of the FBI, its jurisdiction, and employee selection system

* The importance of education

* The FBI's message on drugs and gangs

* Fingerprints

* Hostage Rescue and Special Weapons and Tactics teams

* Missing children - The FBI's role

* Cultural diversity

Taught by a San Jose Fire Department captain:

* Fire science

Taught by San Jose Police Department officers:

* Physical education

* Officer safety

* Patrol procedures

* Accident scene investigation

* Crime scene investigation

* Interview techniques

* Report writing

* Youth gang intervention

* Courtroom demeanor

Senior Supervisory Resident Agent Smith and Special Agent Stapleton serve in the San Jose Resident Agency of the FBI's San Francisco Division.

COPYRIGHT 1995 Federal Bureau of Investigation
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group