As a student in college one begins to consider possible professions for the future. Although there are many options out there, it is always difficult to point out exactly what one wants to do for the rest of their lives, or, at least, for a good amount of time. Once out in the real world, with a real job, and real bills to pay, a person cannot easily jump from profession to profession to see which one fits best. An internship program allows a student to get a feel for a particular profession in which they are interested. Some students are enlightened at the end of their ordeal, while others find out that their favored profession is not what it seems. I will describe my experience as an intern in the San Antonio office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In addition, it is my hope that my words will be of benefit to those who are interested in the FBI or those who are simply curious about what it is like to be an intern.
Federal Bureau of Investigation. The name alone can trigger all sorts of thoughts: respected agency, exalted, intimidating, and cool. These adjectives are all true of the Bureau, but the FBI is so much more. One cannot truly describe it, one can only experience it. After making the decision of applying for the internship, I turned in all of the required documents as promptly as I could. The application process is a rather lengthy one, so the faster one turns in the paperwork the better. The application packet is just the initial step in the process. When the recruiter chooses you as a potential candidate, that is when the wheels start turning, but very slowly. Several interviews take place followed by fingerprinting, drug tests, polygraph tests, and lastly a background investigation. These difference processes are conducted by current and retired members of the Bureau.
The main purpose of the FBI is to collect and analyze intelligence to prevent acts of terrorism and to gather and protect evidence or information that can be used in criminal cases. The FBI has investigative supervision of over more than two hundred categories of federal law and nearly six-hundred specific violations of federal law. The Bureau also provides leadership, assistance, and works with federal, state, local, and international law enforcement agencies. In addition, the FBI conducts background investigations of people being considered for important or sensitive positions in the U.S. government.
FBI interns are placed in a squad, which is a group composed of about ten to eleven agents and non-agents. Each squad is responsible for a different criminal area. For instance, the cyber squad oversees cases of child pornography and professional hackers, while the violent crime squad is in charge of homicides, gang activities, and bank robberies among other things. I am very fortunate to be part of the public corruption squad composed mainly of seasoned agents; they know the tricks and have to prove nothing to no one. The agents are welcoming, helpful, and always humorous. This particular squad is one of the most important ones in the Bureau because it is responsible for placing high-level officials in jail; this squad is also responsible for civil rights cases.
The majority of my time was spent outside of the building conducting interviews, visiting the county jail, looking for witnesses, or conducting searches among other things; basically, I do what the agent does. This works to my advantage because each agent is working on a different case, which means that I get to do a variety of things during the week. However, there are times when I have to work at my desk all day. On those days I would be listening to a subject’s conversation and matching it to a verbatim transcript, inputting telephone numbers into a program, or going through documents and flagging any section that might be questionable. These tasks are tedious work that must get done in order for a case to move along. In addition to these tasks, every intern has a list of tasks that they must complete throughout the duration of the internship; these include attendance to a SWAT exercise, evidence response opportunities, firearm familiarization, and interact with other local or state agencies among other tasks.
One of the most interesting assignments of an FBI intern is to participate in a search warrant. One particular search done with the evidence response team stands out as the most interesting of the ones I have participated on. I should point out that the reason I can discuss this high profile case is because the overall details of it have been reported in the newspaper and news networks. As an FBI intern, one is expected to keep all information secret. The search took place at a dump site where the sights and smells of trash were abundant. People from different FBI offices came to San Antonio to assist with this search. Security at the dump site was crucial. Agents and support staff were located at two different areas of the site in order to prevent trespassers from taking pictures or going into the area. Local news helicopters would fly over the site, but there was only so much one can do about that. The mechanics of the search itself were simple. A group of three to four people would carefully go through a small pile of trash in thirty-minute shifts. After one section of trash was cleared, a bulldozer would drop another pile of trash and the process would be repeated. The search lasted about two weeks and the FBI was in charge of the area for the entire time. The FBI was responsible for security both day and night. I had the opportunity to stay overnight in order to secure the premises along with two other agents. Although this might sound boring, it was actually entertaining. Every once in a while we would go outside and check the area, the rest of the time we would be in a trailer. The trailer was equipped with cameras that would allow us to look over the particular area in which the search was taking place. A few days later, the search was called off because nothing was found in the area. Although the search itself yielded no results, it was still a good experience to be a part of.
To this day, I have participated in three searches. As an intern, one can truly be of help by logging in pictures, searching rooms, and bagging evidence among many other assignments. Agents try to teach you things and talk to you about previous searches. Listening to their past experiences is interesting and fun. Those two adjectives seem to describe my daily experiences here at the FBI.