FBI St. Louis Citizens Academy Alumni Association

The FBISTLCAAA received two national awards at the recent annual 2019 National Conference: the Presidential Chapter of Excellence and the Public Safety Innovation Award. Thank you to all our members for helping us achieve this honor.

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Presidential Chapter of Excellence Award
This award is given to an FBICAAA chapter, which has exhibited excellence in all organizational aspects: strong partnership with their local FBI Field Office; successful community outreach programs; sustained membership growth; full compliance with all documentation required by the Federal, state, and local entities to be a certified 501(c)(3), non-profit organization; meeting all FBINCAAA standards for professionalism and participation to include attendance at the previous year’s FBINCAAA Leadership Conference.

FBINCAAA Innovation Award
This award is given to chapters, who exhibit uncommon innovation and creativity. This includes innovative approaches to community outreach; developing and maintaining excellent chapter membership participation; creating unique partnerships within their communities; and/or leading the way in establishing true “Best Practices,” which can be replicated by other FBICAAA Chapters.

On June 29th, members supported the FBI at the annual Redbird Rookies Health Fair, hosted by Cardinals Care, the team’s community foundation dedicated to improving the lives of children. Our booth sported giveaways, community-relevant FBI information, and a virtual reality experience. This combination made the FBI/FBISTLCAAA booth the hit of the event with crowds lining up to learn about the FBI and play games.

Our members volunteered to help the Spring 2019 FBI Teen Academy by role-playing for a mock bank robbery investigation.

The FBISTLCAAA helped sponsor a Mental Health First Aid Public Safety course for Special Agents of the Army’s Criminal Investigative Command by donating funds to pay for all of the class manuals. Retired FBI Special Agent Karyn Feeney commented:

“A special thank you to the FBISTLCAAA for sponsoring Mental Health First Aid Public Safety to Special Agents of the Army’s Criminal Investigative Command on April 18, 2019 at Camp Atterbury, Indiana.  We had an engaging class of students who were open to reducing stigma surrounding mental health. We were excited to certify over fifteen Special Agents from across our nation and we could not have done it without your help. We look forward to partnering with you in the future.  Thank you.  Mental Health First Aid Instructors Karyn Feeney and Tony Campbell”

On March 24, 2019 (Sunday), the FBISTLCAAA sponsored a joint DEA and FBI event held at Festus 8 Cinema to raise awareness about opioid abuse. The goal of showing Chasing the Dragon: The Life of an Opiate Addict is to help people understand the critical components of opioid addiction – how easily it can began, the downward cycle that ensues, followed by tragic consequences.

FBI SAC Rich Quinn and DEA SAC Bill Callahan explained their desire to provide information, resources, and support to communities beyond the City and County of St. Louis. They also strongly encouraged the attendees who the packed auditorium with the following: (1) To engage with resources made available at the event if they know someone who may need help. (2) To show the documentary to others, especially in high schools. Anyone can watch the 50-minute documentary online: https://www.fbi.gov/video-repository/newss-chasing-the-dragon-the-life-of-an-opiate-addict/view

After the showing, the executive director of NCADA moderated a panel discussion with FBI, DEA, Jefferson County Drug Prevention Coalition, COMTREA, and an individual in recovery.

See more about the event as published in a local periodical, Leader Publications, titled: Opioid addiction film delivers powerful message.

Additional information and support resources:

• NCADA: (314) 962-3456, http://ncada-stl.org/
• MO-HOPE: https://MOHopeProject.org
• Opioid STR: https://MissouriOpioidSTR.org
• United Way of Great St. Louis: 211 or (800) 427-4626; http://www.211helps.org/
• Behavioral Health Response: 24-hour Crisis Line: (314) 469-664 or (800) 811-4760, http://bhrstl.org/

By Larry Christopher – FBISTLCAAA life member

On February 20, 2019, representatives of the FBI St. Louis office; Dr. Stephen Liang, MD; and members of the Barnes-Jewish Hospital emergency room staff provided guidance on how to respond to mass casualty events to members of the FBI St. Louis Citizens Academy Alumni Association.  Presenters agreed that run, hide, and fight remains the recommended approach for dealing with active shooters.  They explained how those in danger should interact with law enforcement during an event: police are there primarily to secure the site and neutralize the shooter(s), not to rescue or interact with victims.  Stay clear of them, and do not engage except to respond to commands or provide information.  At the end of the seminar, all those present participated in a drill that reinforced what was learned.

The seminar also addressed how to deal with the wounded following a mass casualty event.  Statistics show that a large percentage of deaths at these events are from blood loss following wounds to extremities.  Those deaths, Dr. Liang stressed, are preventable.  Recognizing this, the American College of Surgeons, the FBI, and others created a protocol known as the Hartford Consensus which makes stopping bleeding the highest priority following shootings, explosions, and other similar events.  Medics and emergency room personnel at the seminar explained principles of trauma care response and presented different procedures to stop the loss of blood.

By Philip Deitch – FBISTLCAAA life member

Congregations of all faith have been facing growing security concerns. There is no longer a single faith or type of spiritual community that can consider itself immune whether in urban or rural areas.

The FBI St. Louis office offered a free seminar on “Protecting Houses of Worship’” on January 26, 2019.  More than 50 people from congregations as far as Cape Girardeau came out on a snowy, bitter, cold Saturday morning to learn how they can better protect their congregations and their congregants.  In the process, they created a supportive community among representatives from diverse faiths to include the Jewish, Muslim, and Christian communities.   The host location was the New Northside Conference Center, 5939 Goodfellow Boulevard, in the City of St Louis.  The FBISTLCAAA provided continental breakfast and refreshments. About ten FBISTLCAAA members came to volunteer and/or to learn themselves.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard Quinn welcomed and thanked the attendees and put the importance of the day into stark perspective.  FBI special agents gave an overview on hate crimes, active shooter behavioral analysis, and what to do in an active shooter situation. Also, on the program, a Jewish Federation security expert who provides evaluations and trainings to all Jewish congregations and Jewish communal organizations.  He self-identified as a Christian underlying the point that all spiritual congregations should be taking preventive action.  Our own FBISTLCAAA President Gary Chan provided tips on cyber security.  Rounding out the 3-hour seminar, a sergeant with SLMPD’s Crisis Intervention Team talked about the mental health resources available and how it provides such training to police officers.

Additional Resources
fbi.gov/resources (active shooter studies)
dhs.gov (how to prepare your business for an emergency, bomb threat checklist)
adl.org/security (DHS, FBI and broader material)

The St. Louis office of the American Red Cross is hosting informational sessions on being a volunteer for their organization. These sessions will run once a month from February through December in 2019. These Red Cross volunteer activities are separate from FBISTLCAAA activities, but we are exploring partnerships with them. If there are joint activities in the future, we will advertise them as such.

If you would like more information on this topic, please Contact Us.

Additional information from the Red Cross

Learn the impact the American Red Cross volunteers have on the local community and how you can help:

• Provide shelter, food and comfort following a home fire, tornado, flood or other disaster
• Save lives by installing smoke alarms
• Provide support at local blood drives which keep our nation’s blood supply stable
• Provide support to our military and their families
• Learn about the menu of volunteer opportunities and ways you can give back to your community

On Dec 12, 2018, the FBISTLCAAA held its annual Holiday Happy Hour for FBI Citizens Academy graduates. During the informal gathering, FBI St. Louis and FBISTLCAAA signed the 2019 Memorandum of Agreement.

Special Agent in Charge Richard Quinn spoke about the accomplishments of the St. Louis Division and the challenges it faces, his appreciation for the FBISTLCAAA, and ideas on how the association can partner with the FBI to help improve the community. FBISTLCAAA President Gary Chan also shared the organization’s accomplishments in 2018 and painted a picture for what 2019 could be.