Kansas City, like each of the FBI’s local field offices, has a community outreach program that complements and strengthens our many efforts to protect you, your businesses, and your families in concrete ways through a range of activities and initiatives.

Our recent activities include:

• We recently presented our annual Director’s Community Leadership Award to Richard T. Bryant, an essential member of the Kansas City FBI Citizens Academy Alumni Association (CAAA) and serves on the local board as well as the national board.

• Our Citizens Academy hosts a cross section of approximately 27 community, business, civic, religious, and non-profit leaders to learn firsthand about our operations and programs. The academy not only demystifies our work but also creates new contacts and channels for working together and sharing information. Learn more, including how to apply.
  The FBI Kansas City Citizens Academy Alumni Association, in conjunction with the FBI National Citizens Academy Alumni Association, is proud to support the 9th & Van Brunt Athletic Fields in Northeast Kansas City. The fields at this sports complex are located in the urban core of Kansas City and are used by more than 1,000 area kids and residents each week. The Alumni Association, in partnership with the City of Kansas City, the Parks and Recreation Department, and G3—an event management company that focuses on bringing youth soccer to Kansas City—are working together to keep the community safe. G3 expressed a concern regarding the close proximity of the fields to area streets and highways, and that is where the FBI’s Citizens Academy Alumni Association came in—providing the funding to install safety netting around the fields to ensure a safe play area for the children and adults who will use this complex daily for soccer games and practices.

  Dick Bryant, president of the FBI Kansas City Citizens Academy Alumni Chapter, also serves on the FBI National Citizens Academy Alumni Association executive committee.

  The Citizens Academy Alumni Association recently provided support to the Kansas City Division by participating in a field training exercise. FBI Kansas City, working with a major league sporting stadium, provided realistic training that focused on honing the region’s emergency response capabilities and multi-agency coordinated action should an actual emergency response event occur. As part of this exercise, members of the Kansas City Division’s Citizens Academy Alumni Association volunteered to play the role of sports fans. The participants were placed in a portion of the stadium simulating one section of a large sports arena. Without warning, there was a massive explosion, and the stadium’s personnel and equipment—such as the electronic scoreboards, banners, and microphones—were used to direct the “fans” from the stadium. The alumni role players, who at this point had potentially been exposed to radiological agents, were escorted calmly from the stadium, out of the immediate area of concern. They then passed through equipment placed to reduce the threat of spreading radiological contamination and were ushered to another secure area where decontamination tents were set up. Pictures from the exercise are below.

  Field training exercise, street scene	Field training exercise, decontamination scene

  The Citizens Academy Alumni Association and the Kansas City Division recently hosted the graduation of the 23rd Kansas City Citizens Academy class. This year’s guest speaker was Mr. Ali Soufan, former FBI agent and author of the book The Black Banners: The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War Against al Qaeda. Following remarks by Mr. Soufan, the 26 graduates were presented with certificates and plaques by FBI Kansas City Special Agent in Charge Michael Kaste and Citizens Academy Alumni Association President Dick Bryant. Pictures from the ceremony are below.

  Ali Soufan	From left: Dick Bryant, graduate, Michael Kaste

• The Kansas City Division hosted the Junior Special Agent graduation ceremony, where Assistant Special Agent in Charge Shelley Doherty administered the oath of office to the graduates. The program ran during the 2012–2013 school year, with special agents and support personnel providing instruction to the fourth grade students at Garcia Elementary every other Wednesday for the duration of the school year.

Fourth grade students at Primitivo Garcia Elementary School in Kansas City take the oath of office during their graduation from the Junior Special Agent program.

• We hosted our annual Youth Leadership Academy on June 6, 2013. The academy is comprised of students entering their junior or senior years of high school who have been nominated for participation by their schools. Approximately 25 students from area high schools attended the eight-hour program, where topics covered included an overview of the FBI and our jurisdiction, careers with the FBI, the internship program, cyber crimes, hostage negotiations, evidence recovery, and SWAT demonstrations. Learn more

Participants in FBI Kansas City’s annual Youth Leadership Academy listen to a presentation on the FBI’s Evidence Response Team on June 6, 2013.

• The FBI Kansas City Division partnered with the Mexican Consulate office in Kansas City to host a Community Relations Executive Seminar Training (CREST). The program, which took place on Thursday, April 11, 2013, provided a forum in which the FBI could provide educational information and briefings on specific topics of interest and concern to leaders of the Hispanic community, including civil rights, hate crimes, identity theft, and a general overview of the FBI. The CREST event proved to be an excellent avenue for an open exchange of dialogue and friendship. More info and photos
  

  Supervisory Special Agent in Charge (SSA) Heith Janke (standing) speaks during a panel discussion on civil rights/hate crimes at the CREST, hosted April 11, 2013 at the Mexican Consulate. Seated, from left to right, are First Assistant United States Attorney David Ketchmark of the Western District of Missouri, FBI Special Agent Steve Leippert, and FBI Victim Specialist Wende Baker.

• On July 15, 2013, members of the FBI Kansas City Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas joined the Raindrop Foundation and the Dialogue Institute of Southwest for a breaking of the fast Ramadan dinner hosted by the Raindrop Foundation.
  

  FBI, U.S. Attorney’s Office, and Muslim community representatives prior to Ramadan fast-breaking dinner hosted by the Raindrop Foundation on July 15, 2013.

Among our other ongoing efforts:

• Meeting with minority groups and civic organizations to talk about what the FBI can do with them and for them and hosting town hall meetings as needed to dialogue on key issues;
• Supporting our Citizens Academy graduates, who have formed a non-profit FBI Citizens Academy Alumni Association that helps create crime prevention programs and other initiatives to benefit communities and that fosters activities to continue the partnerships formed during the academy;
• Supporting congressional briefing and range day for area U.S. congressional offices;
• Holding Community Relations Executive Seminar Training (CREST) events;
• Partnering with the American Football Coaches Association and its National Child Identification Program to distribute Child ID kits at football games and other events; and
• Sending our special agents and professional support staff into schools, businesses, and civic meetings to explain emerging crime and security threats and to provide specific advice on how to prevent being victimized by these threats. To request a speaker, visit this webpage.