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From tracking down terrorists and Internet
predators to keeping national secrets from falling into the wrong
hands, the FBI conducts much of its daily work on a strictly
need-to-know basis.
   


   But twice each year, a select group of community, civic and
business leaders gets a peek inside the FBI's operations during a
six-week Citizens' Academy class, an effort aimed at showing
members of the public at least some of what the secretive agency
does and how it works.

      "The whole goal of this outreach is to connect with the
community," said Ralph Boelter, special agent in charge of the FBI
office in Minneapolis. "The more we do that, the more we build
confidence in the public that we serve. I think that's important.
For us to be effective in what we do, people have to have
confidence in us."

      All 56 FBI field offices have citizens' academies. In Minnesota,
150 people have completed the class, said FBI spokesman E.K.
Wilson. Many have gone on to share what they've learned with
others.

      In the most recent class, which took place over six weeks in
October and November, 18 students from a variety of backgrounds
learned about cybercrime, counterterrorism, weapons of mass
destruction, civil rights, white collar crime, and more. 

Special
agents talked about everything from the dangers of hostage
negotiations to the arrests of three men who planned to attack the
2008 Republican National Convention.
     


 They also addressed some of the agency's mistakes, such as the
now-defunct COINTELPRO, an operation that began in the 1950s to
monitor groups with communist ties but was expanded to civil rights
groups, anti-war activists and others before it was shut down.
    


  Students also learned the art of dusting for fingerprints and
how the FBI tracked down Robert Hanssen, an FBI agent caught in
2001 selling secrets to Russia. In June, students will go to the
shooting range and find out what it's like to fire a weapon.
    


  The information shared in class was unclassified and dealt with
cases already resolved. Even so, Jim Randall, a retired Minnesota
Court of Appeals judge, said he learned more than he thought he
would.


      "I thought it had a lot of substance," Randall said. "It was
not just all shadow. It has some meat to it."
     

 Another student was Nimco Ahmed, a young woman active in the
Twin Cities' large Somali community. She took the class because of
the FBI's investigation into young Somali men who traveled from
Minneapolis to join a jihad in Somalia. Many Somalis mistrust
government and fear the FBI, and she wanted to learn more about how
the agents work.

      "I'm actually a different person than who I was before, as far
as my perception of how these guys work," Ahmed said. "I didn't
know anything. I kind of thought, 'Shoot, if they want you, they
can get you.'


      "But they can't just get anybody. They can't just take
somebody's passport," she said.


      Ahmed said dialogue is important and she plans to use what she
learned to help educate others in the Somali community. She's
already spoken with one man who she said has been contacted by
local agents.


      "He's just an innocent young man. But he's so scared. He
thought they could get him," she said. "I told him, 'Look, if you
are innocent, you are innocent. ... Nobody can get you. But you can
get yourself for not telling the truth.'"


      Hopeful participants can contact their local FBI office and
request an application, but class size is limited. An applicant has
a better chance if nominated by an FBI agent or former Citizens'
Academy student. Participants also must pass a background check.

Many students are people Boelter calls "connectors" - those who
are active in their communities and who can help explain the FBI's
mission to others.

      Nancy Sabin is one such connector. As the former executive
director of the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center, she has worked
with the FBI on different cases, including the 2005 school shooting
in Red Lake. Now, Sabin provides juvenile justice consulting to
agencies and nonprofits.

      "I'm excited that the FBI is trying to have outreach in the
community and allow communities to get to know them too," Sabin
said. "I think a lot of people have perceptions about the FBI that
aren't accurate, and I think the FBI didn't mind that people had
those perceptions for a long time. I think there's a concerted
effort now to build the synergies that are possible between the FBI
and the community. We can help them and they can help us.

      "I think you're better off when you're united around certain
things, especially community safety," she said.
     


 Participants don't become agents or informants upon graduation.
But many choose to join an alumni association, a nonprofit group
that helps spread the FBI's message. 


The Citizens' Academy in
Minneapolis and its alumni association have been recognized by the
director of the FBI for the alumni group's work. Among other
things, it has created a mentoring program for at-risk youth and it
offers Internet safety presentations.

      In the Citizens' Academy itself, class lectures are given by
special agents with different specialties. None of them are paid
extra.


      "They do it because they want to," Boelter said.

      Special Agent Gina Palokangas, who works on the white collar
squad, gave a lecture on the FBI's civil rights program. She said
she enjoys the chance to share what she does each day, and likes
interacting with students.

      "When people ask questions, it might be something that we don't
normally think about. You get so locked in on working the
violation," she said. The feedback is "kind of nice ... it brings
a new perspective to what we do."
     

Gallery

Mpls FBI head ramps up outreach to Somalis

FBI, Twin Cities Somalis hope to rebuild relationship

Crime, Law and Justice

The Jacob Wetterling abduction

Amy Forliti, Associated Press

Author

Twice each year, a group of community, civic and
business leaders gets a peek inside the FBI's operations during a six-week Citizens' Academy class, an effort aimed at showing members of the public some of what the agency does and how it works.

Citizens get behind-the-scenes look at FBI

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