FBI St. Louis Citizens Academy Alumni Association

“GIVING BACK FOOD, FAMILY AND LOVE”
FBI St. Louis Citizens Academy Alumni Association Food Drive In Memory of Officer Tamarris Bohannon Collects Nearly 13,000 Pounds of Donated Food & Personal Care Items

Donated items and monetary contributions enable the St. Louis Area Foodbank to feed more than 17,500 people throughout the metro area.

St. Louis, Missouri, December 3, 2020 —The FBI St. Louis Citizens Academy Alumni Association (FBISTLCAAA), in partnership with the St. Louis Area Foodbank, collected 12,721 pounds of food and personal care items, along with more than $1,800 in contributions in memory of St. Louis Metropolitan Police Officer Tamarris Bohannon. Officer Bohannon, 29, was killed in the line of duty in August, 2020.

Food drive collection bins were placed in nearly fifty locations throughout the metropolitan area from Tuesday, November 17^th – Tuesday, November 24^th.  Many truckloads of donated food and personal care items were delivered to the St. Louis Area Foodbank to assist children, adults, and seniors facing food insecurity this holiday season.

Monetary donations may still be made at the St. Louis Area Foodbank’s “Virtual Food Drive” webpage dedicated to Officer Bohannon: https://vad.techbridge.org/vfdhtml.cfm?driveid=49583  

Officer Bohannon leaves behind a wife and three children. He was the first member of the SLMPD to be killed in the line of duty since 2011. The FBISTLCAAA, the St. Louis Area Foodbank, and the family of Officer Bohannon thank everyone who contributed to help provide access to food for thousands of people in the St. Louis community, for whom Officer Bohannon gave his all.

On March 12th, our St. Louis chapter in conjunction with the Kansas City chapter jointly presented “Chasing the Dragon” in Jefferson City. This is the second time in as many years, the FBISTLCAAA helped the FBI and DEA inform the public about the dangers of abusing prescription drugs. This year’s panel included a mother and daughter who gave very emotional testimony about the daughter’s journey from addiction to recovery. These two women actually attended our “Chasing the Dragon” event in Festus almost exactly a year ago. Watching the film helped both women see each other’s perspective. After more tough love from her mother, the daughter finally agreed to an out-of-state treatment program that lasted 10 months. The women’s courage to testify at the event gave hope to other families suffering from drug addiction. Thank you Board Director Pastor Randy Gray for spearheading this event.

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“The FBI National Citizens Academy Alumni Association has joined efforts with Little Free Library (LFL) to improve literacy in the FBINCAAA affiliate chapter communities. Stewarding Little Free Libraries provides a great way for chapters to connect community, law enforcement outreach, and education. Free Library® is the largest grassroots book sharing literacy network in the world with over 90,000 Little Free Libraries in 91 countries and in all 50 states. As partners we can work together to address the growing illiteracy crisis in the United States. LFL’s mission is to inspire a love of reading, build community and spark creativity by fostering neighborhood book exchanges around the world.”    
– FBI National CAAA, 2019

The FBISTLCAAA has purchased two libraries and are in the process of choosing their location. We need books to fill these Free Little Libraries! The plan is to purchase a wide variety of books for all ages to fill our Free Little Libraries.

Please donate by clicking here. All donations received will be used to purchase books for the FBISTLCAAA chapter Little Free Libraries now and in the future.

On February 14, 2020, FBISTLCAAA members joined DHS, TSA, and Federal Air Marshalls at the St. Louis Lambert International Airport for a behind-the-scenes look of airport security operations.  Attendees learned about the airport’s different security programs and also watched a K-9 explosives search demonstration and baggage search demonstration.  Thank you to the fantastic airport security personnel who keep all of us safe when we travel!

1. In coordination with FBI, organize, invite, and present cyber security information to businesses and non-profits, especially those that do not have dedicated IT resources.
2. Support FBI Citizens Academy in addition to the new half-day version for executives.
3. Support FBI Teen or Youth Leadership Academy, where top junior or senior high school students will be invited to participate.
4. Co-sponsor and support the annual LDA memorial golf tournament.
5. Fundraise, possibly at Top Golf, to increase general revenue to enable FBISTLCAAA to better support and/or execute initiatives that make a difference in improving the community.

The FBISTLCAAA held its holiday reunion at Spazio Westport on December 12^th. Approximately 40 members gathered to enjoy each other’s company, food, and the following:

• Emeritus and founding member Norm Appelman was recognized for his enormous generosity. He gifted his shares to start an investment account to sustain the viability and to support the mission of FBISTLCAAA. Happy 93^rd Birthday Norm!
• Immediate Past President Gary Chan recapped how our chapter won two national awards, the Presidential Chapter of Excellence & Public Safety Innovation Award, which were presented at last August’s National Citizens Academy Alumni Association Leadership conference in Houston.
• Chapter President David Brickhaus and FBI SAC Richard Quinn signed the 2020 Memorandum of Agreement, which includes five objectives for our chapter.
• SAC Quinn presented significant investigations accomplished by FBI St. Louis in 2019 and answered lots of questions.

Thank you to all who brought books to the event to help launch our chapter’s “Little Free Library.” Installation locations TBD.

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.

The FBI, US Secret Service, and DHS held a briefing regarding e-Skimming on September 5, 2019. Any business accepting online payments on their website is at risk of an e-Skimming attack.

To learn more about the growing threat of e-skimming attacks, you can listen to this FBI podcast.

Or review this recent posting from the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Careers and Studies.

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.