News
Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 21, 1997
DEA
BREAKS GROUND FOR NEW TRAINING ACADEMY
The Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA) will begin construction on a new training academy
on the grounds of the FBI Academy at Quantico, Virginia. The groundbreaking
ceremony is scheduled for April 21, 1997 at 2:00 p.m.
Congress provided
funding for the training academy in the Fiscal Year 1997 Appropriations.
The $29 million facility, scheduled for completion in June 1999, will
enable the DEA to provide state of the art training for DEA Basic Agents,
state and local law enforcement officials, international law enforcement
counterparts, and essential training for the entire DEA workforce.
Among the training
requirements for DEA personnel are courses for diversion investigators,
intelligence analysts, supervisory and management training and periodic
refresher training for Special Agents. The facility will include a dormitory
with 250 beds, eight classrooms, a cafeteria, warehouse and office space
for the DEA training staff.
For years, the DEA
and FBI have shared training facilities at the FBI Academy in Quantico.
With the recent expansion of both agencies, and with increasingly complex
training requirements for DEA Special Agents and other law enforcement
officers conducting sophisticated drug investigations, the need for additional
space became critical. In May 1991, a study was completed by the Department
of Justice indicating that the best and most efficient way to satisfy
the training needs of both the DEA and FBI was to pursue an expansion
at Quantico. The academy will be constructed on land made available to
the DEA by the United States Marine Corps, on whose military facility
the FBI Academy is located.
DEA Administrator
Thomas A. Constantine said that "This training facility is a dream
come true for the DEA. We deeply appreciate the support of Attorney General
Janet Reno who was instrumental in helping us obtain the funds for construction.
The generous support of Congress during last years appropriations
process allows the DEA to provide the kind of training to DEA employees
and other law enforcement personnel that the American people deserve."
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