FBI Minneapolis Field Office Looking To Recruit More Women: 'Our Goal Is To Reflect The Community That We Work In'
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- We watch female agents catching bad guys every week on the "FBI" shows that air on WCCO. Our local field office hopes Minnesota women will consider real-life careers as special agents. Jennifer Mayerle experienced part of the training to see what it takes.
"The FBI is always working to build a diverse workforce. Our goal is to reflect the community that we work in," recruiter and Special Agent Brenda Kane said.
Kane says the female special agents who showed WCCO's cameras the training didn't have a law enforcement background before joining the bureau. Two were attorneys, the other an ER nurse.
"A lot of women that I've worked with as agents are excellent interviewers, very compassionate people," Kane said.
The bureau is looking for more women. Kane says the FBI teaches skills such as defensive tactics, firearms and interview techniques.
"As agents, we're life-long learners," Kane said. "We're always training, we're learning the newest tactics."
The FBI Minneapolis Field Office showed WCCO what a quarterly training looks like with a simulated arrest.
"This job is inherently dangerous, there's no getting away from that," Kane said. "Commands are very important when we are dealing with individuals. We want to be clear and concise so they know what to expect from us, and what we're expecting from them."
And we saw how to breach a door during an arrest, or a search warrant. Mayerle tried it too, noticing the more she practiced, the more comfortable the motion became.
"The more that we do it, the more muscle memory we achieve," Kane said. "And it's something that when we need to use those techniques in real-life scenarios, we feel confident and competent with those techniques."
She hopes women who have an interest in the FBI will seek out more information.
"Every single one of us has a different path to the FBI," Kane said.
The FBI will hold an invite-only event on Dec. 7. To attend, participants must be between 23 and 36 years old, have a four-year degree and two years professional work experience.
To apply, email MinneapolisApplicants@fbi.gov.
