Gee Man

Retired FBI agents with more than 120 years of combined experience told our investigation the legendary FBI Quantico Training Academy was dubbed the “Participation Academy” because of headquarters’ pressure to “push through” poorly performing candidates to meet DEI objectives.

BREAKING: An internal FBI inclusivity “Guide,” obtained by our team, counseled agents on “Ways to Manage Your Unconscious Bias,” “Micro-Inequities” and “How to Improve Your Inclusive Intelligence.” “The New IQ: Your Guide to Sustaining Inclusive Habits in the Workplace” was shared in mid-2020 and includes nine “tips” to counter unconscious bias.  Separately, as part of our investigation, recently retired FBI agents said they saw, firsthand, how law enforcement capabilities were compromised because merit took a backseat to DEI priorities. They dubbed the legendary FBI Quantico Training Academy the “Participation Academy” because of headquarters’ pressure to “push through” poorly performing candidates to meet DEI objectives. The retired agents said FBI Director Patel inherits a workforce where standards dropped impacting physical fitness of agents, their firearms skills as well as professional qualifications, putting the FBI mission and safety at risk. DEEP DIVE More than a half dozen recently retired FBI agents agreed to speak with me on a confidential basis.  They said they feared retaliation for describing their experiences with the FBI’s DEI initiatives. While fiercely loyal to the bureau, they said they felt compelled to come forward, citing a dangerous reduction in standards. The group of retired agents was diverse.  It included male, female, Asian, Black and White agents from field offices in different parts of the country.  Their work experience covered multiple facets of the recruitment and training process. Everyone we spoke with offered a first hand account of DEI’s impact. The retired agents told me they valued diversity because it could strengthen the FBI mission but in recent years FBI leadership took the attitude the bureau was “too White.”    We were told that the physical fitness performance of candidates declined. The requirements include timed sit-ups (1 minute), timed 300-m sprint, untimed push-up maximum and timed 1.5-mile run.  The retired agents described recruits who had an ‘attitude problem.’ The recruits would quit the long distance run or claim injuries if they thought they would not pass a requirement. The number of successfully completed push ups was routinely low because many recruits didn’t have the skill or strength to follow the required protocol (i.e bad form, not low enough.)  What we learned about firearms training was also concerning.  We were told some recruits lacked the “mental toughness” to competently handle weapons. Other candidates had documented mental health issues.  While their performance was poor, there was a “push them through Quantico attitude.”  The backbone of FBI investigations is a witness interview summary known as a “302.”  In some cases, new agents lacked basic writing skills to complete a 302, in part, because work experience requirements had been relaxed.  Once poor performing recruits were “pushed through Quantico,” the hope was that FBI Field Offices would fix them. These retired FBI agents are solution oriented and respectfully asked if Director Patel would be willing to meet with them because they understand where the change needs to happen internally. Describing how “woke broke the FBI,” one of the agents shared the wrenching personal decision to discourage their child from following in their professional footsteps. In response to our questions, FBI spokesman Ben Williamson said, “Director Patel’s new FBI will be an entirely mission focused institution — working every day to get criminals off our streets, keep the American people safe, and let good agents be good agents. We are aggressively working to abide by any Presidential directive to root out politically motivated, social engineering projects — they have zero home here and never will as long as Director Patel is at the helm.” FULL FBI DEI guide available to our subscribers @C__Herridge We rely on your subscriptions to deliver fact driven reporting. No third party agenda driven money