A Visit to the FBI Academy

As part of my visit to the FBI Headquarters for the FBI Corporate Compliance Officer Outreach Event, we took a trip to Quantico to visit the FBI Academy. The Academy shares space with the Marine Corps base and is therefore behind heavy security. Even with all of that security, there are buildings at the Academy under even more security. Needless to say, we did not get to visit those buildings.

This part of the trip was more about FBI programs, than about compliance. The exception was a viewing of the FBI’s ethics video. This was an impressive production with field agents placing the ethical standards in the context of actual case issues. Change the discussion from law enforcement and the ethics video would be an example of a great corporate ethics video, putting a code of conduct in the context of real situations.

The FBI Academy facilities have an overall 1970s feel to them. This makes sense, since the facilities were built in the 1970s.  We didn’t get change to enter Hogan’s Alley, a mock city used for tactical training. However, we did hear lots of gun fire. The first barrage sounded like a dozen or so trainees opening fire at once. A few minutes later an enormous barrage echoed across the compound, sounding like the ill-fated San Diego fireworks. Clearly, the trainees had switched to automatic weapons.

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