Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)
The course is a lively mix of presentations and practical exercises. FBI personnel—including linguists, technical experts, forensic accountants, intelligence analysts, special agents, and bomb technicians—answered questions about their jobs and how they arrived at the FBI.
In a mock scenario on the first day, a special agent explained how investigators assemble the building blocks of a case by looking at the available facts and evidence and then asking the right questions. Then students separated into “squads” and practiced.
On day two, students learned best practices for dusting for fingerprints, sketching crime scenes, and interviewing subjects—all while dutifully documenting everything. For many, the rigors of tracking every photo, statement, and piece of evidence was illuminating.
“It was really eye-opening,” said Ryan, an FAIT participant. “It’s been very jarring to see, like, just how methodical that process is for any kind of crime scene like this.”
Photo Gallery
Select image to view gallery
“There’s a lot more that goes into examining a crime scene than people realize,” added Hannah, another FAIT participant. “There were multiple different things we needed to include, like the case number, the item number, description, location, time.”
The Cleveland Division borrowed the idea for Future Agents in Training from the FBI’s Washington Field Office in 2015, seeing it as a way to connect with students in the communities it serves. FBI field offices rely on outreach efforts like FAIT, Citizens Academies, Junior Special Agents, college Honors Internships, and Teen and Youth Academies to help strengthen relationships with communities.