“The Dumbing Down: FBI” by IP attorney and author Timothy Trainer
Trump’s troops walk the streets of Washington, D.C. Despite the U.S. Justice Department’s statistics indicating a decrease in violent crime (District of Columbia | Violent Crime in D.C. Hits 30 Year Low | United States Department of Justice), he wants more boots on the ground—U.S. ground. One wonders why he doesn’t do the same in Memphis, Baltimore, St. Louis and Birmingham. Highest Crime Cities in the US 2025 | Stats & Facts About Crime Cities – The Global Statistics. Perhaps it’s only a matter of time.
In addition to national guard troops, reassigning FBI agents to the streets of the nation’s capital will also occur. It’s reported that 120 FBI agents will patrol the streets of Washington, D.C. Federal agents spread out across D.C. amid Trump vow to crack down on crime : NPR. This diversion of FBI agents to the streets means fewer agents to investigate corruption and engage in counter-terrorism work. A cynic would say that by having fewer agents investigating public corruption, white collar crime and financial fraud suits the president and those who he pals around with.
More disturbing about the FBI’s increased role in street crime prevention is the report that the FBI will lower standards for future agents. F.B.I. Plans to Lower Recruiting Standards, Alarming Agents – The New York Times. The New York Times reports that future agents would receive less than half the training at the FBI Academy than their predecessors. In addition, educational standards will be lowered so that new agents will not have to have received at least a four-year college degree.
The practical effect of lowering standards is lowering the individual’s and the agency’s overall capabilities. Will the FBI have enough people who are capable of conducting complex investigations that require analytical skills? Will future agents be able to read and understand complex reports and documents that may be seized in an investigation? This is relevant given the state of U.S. education and the ability of high school graduates to read and understand content. Some data indicate that “two-thirds of American high school graduates have underdeveloped reading skills, with illiteracy being a significant factor in high school graduation rates.” How Many People Graduate High School Illiterate. Will the FBI test applicants before expending training and other resources to put a recruit through the FBI Academy?
The plan to lower standards begs the question: Why aren’t there enough applicants among the pool of college graduates? Or, given that this administration demands individuals place allegiance to the White House occupant over allegiance to the country, is it easier to mold a new agent who cares less about respecting and acting in accordance with the law and the constitution if they have a lower educational standard?
In a different time and under a different set of historical circumstances, the U.S. lowered standards during the 1960s to allow marginal men to be drafted to feed the manpower needs of the war in Vietnam. Project 100,000 increased the pool of eligible young men for military service. How a Plan to ‘Salvage’ Vietnam Recruits Ended Disastrously | HistoryNet. While many military professionals were against the lowered standards, the need for bodies prevailed. One career officer’s view of the project was that “Project 100,000 was implemented to produce more grunts for the killing fields of Vietnam. It took unfit recruits from the bottom of the barrel and rushed them to Vietnam. The result was human applesauce.”
Lowering standards to become an FBI agent is not the same as lowering standards to ship people off to war. Nevertheless, what’s at risk should not be overlooked. Will the FBI continue to conduct the types of national security-related investigations that have been done in the past and at the level of competence necessary to do the job well?
The deeds, the conduct, the hiring/firing exhibited by this administration does not demonstrate a sincere effort to protect and defend the United States. Lowered FBI standards will undermine the agency for an unknown period of time during which adversaries will test U.S. capabilities. What every person should understand is that this is a deliberate and intentional decision that weakens our security. Those making these decisions, while often wrapping themselves in the flag, enjoy projecting a patriotic image as their actions weaken the fundamental mission of the FBI.
The current trend of placing uniformed military personnel on the streets and diverting the FBI to patrolling the streets are unlikely to make the U.S. safer if we neglect other forms of criminal conduct. Who investigates complex cases of industrial espionage by our foreign adversaries? Is this a way of getting the citizenry to focus on day-to-day crimes while white collar criminals steal millions or billions by defrauding U.S. citizens with impunity?
Given the cases in which the sitting president has been found guilty of fraud, it isn’t a surprise that he and his appointees prefer law enforcement to be in the streets rather than investigating fraud schemes, other white-collar crimes or threats of conspiracy or espionage aimed at the U.S.
About the Author: Tim Trainer is an army brat. He was born into the Army in Japan and was a high school junior when his father retired from the Army. Typical of Army or military brats of the times, he had attended 10 schools by the time of his high school graduation. He did not arrive in the United States until he was past his fifth birthday. After arriving in the United States, the Army life meant living in various parts of the United States, on and off post, depending upon his father’s duty station.
He had three “tours of duty” at Ft. Knox, KY, (some elementary school, some high school, and basic training). Upon his discharge from the Army in July 1975, he left the Army behind permanently. At the time of his discharge, he was twenty-one and half years old but had spent twenty years as either an army brat or on active duty.
After the Army years, he eventually earned a law degree and moved to the Washington, D.C., area in 1987. Since moving to the Washington, D.C., area, he has worked as an attorney in federal government agencies and in the private sector. He has traveled extensively around the world, including several trips to Vietnam.
This work is evidence that his break from the Army was not “permanent.” In the late 1990s, his father, who was reuniting regularly with men he had served with in B2-7, invited him to meet the guys when they met in Washington, D.C. This led to his father’s invitation to attend a summer reunion in 2003. Since 2003, Mr. Trainer has been a regular attendee of the B2-7 reunions in Washington, D.C., and at the summer gatherings at what he calls “Camp Gast.”
Learn more about Tim and his books: TimothyTrainer.com
