The goodwill and public understanding of the FBI’s mission these academies generate may - over the long haul - make investigators’ jobs easier.

One of the staunchest supporters of FBI Citizens’ Academies is the SAC of the Dallas Field Office, Danny Defenbaugh, who believes that developing partnerships with communities is an effective way to garner positive publicity, especially “when the FBI cannot stand up and speak for itself.” And the community is certainly interested in what the FBI has to say: when The Dallas Morning News ran a story announcing the opening of the Dallas Citizens’ FBI Academy, 165 people applied for the 20 some slots!

Inspection Division Assistant Director David Knowlton, while serving as Baltimore SAC, said of Baltimore’s Academy: “We try to demystify the FBI. I think putting a human face on the agency goes a long way in building trust with law enforcement.” The current Baltimore SAC, Lynne Hunt, said, “We can’t do our jobs efficiently without help from other law enforcement agencies, and without help from you [the public].” Another supporter is Philadelphia SAC Robert Conforti, who said the academy “pays dividends to the Division far beyond anyone’s imagination.”

Results show that the Academies work. In 1996, when 16-year veteran SA Chuck Reed was killed in the line of duty during an undercover drug buy in Philadelphia, one of the first phone calls to the Philadelphia Office offering assistance came from a citizen who had recently graduated from the office’s Citizens’ Academy.