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THE FBI ACADEMY A Pictorial History |
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In May 1972, today's FBI Academy—which trains not only Bureau personnel but also law enforcement professionals from around the globe—opened its doors on a sprawling 385-acre campus carved out of the Quantico Marine Corps base in rural Virginia. Here's a walk through the past visually tracing the Academy's evolution over the years. We begin our story at a train station in Kansas City...
In the Beginning … How’d we end up at Quantico? It began with the so-called "Kansas City massacre.” In June 1933, three police officers and one Bureau agent escorting a prisoner through a Missouri train station were killed when “Pretty Boy” Floyd and other criminals opened fire. Following the public outcry, FBI agents were given the authority to make arrests and to carry weapons for the first time. … But where to learn marksmanship and take target practice? We needed a safe, out of the way place. … And we found one, thanks to the Marine Corps, which in 1934 let us start using the firing ranges on its base in Quantico, Virginia, about 35 miles southwest of the nation’s capital. We’ve been there ever since.
Training Takes Off … Meanwhile, the Bureau was moving into the training business. … In line with the recommendations of a national commission on the need for more standardized police training, in 1935 we launched a “Police Training School,” the forerunner of today’s National Academy program. The high-level police professionals learned investigative and scientific techniques, studied management principles, did practical exercises, and received firearms training at the gun range at Quantico. Many of the graduates opened training classes back home to share what they’d learned.
The Academy’s First Home … “If you build it, they will come…” Precisely our thinking by the late 1930s. The gun ranges used by the Marines weren’t meeting our more specialized law enforcement needs. And we needed a central place to instruct and house all the police officers and special agents we were now training.
A New Era for FBI Training … On May 7, 1972, the new, expanded, and modernized FBI Academy was opened.
New Directions, New Neighbors … Since 1972, the Academy has continued to grow and evolve, both in terms of its training and its facilities. A few examples: … Our newest building on the block: the FBI Laboratory. In 2003, we opened our first ever standalone Lab building, a state-of-the-art facility complete with building-sized shock absorbers to handle vibrations from nearby Marine munitions blasts.
Into the Future … It’s not called the “West of Point of Law Enforcement” for nothing. The FBI Academy continues to look towards the future with new programs designed to meet the evolving needs of our workforce and our national and international partners. |