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INDIANAPOLIS — The FBI is looking for people from all backgrounds to help crack down on crime in Central Indiana and across the country.
“We’re hoping to hire approximately 1,000 agents," Jeremy Michaelis, a Special Agent with the FBI said. Educators, biologists, scientists, you know all types of people."
“I think most people do default to what they see on TV for the most part,” Michaelis said.
Often times that means white men, with law enforcement or military experience, but Michaelis says the bureau is using their magnifying glass to search for all types of people.
PREVIOUS | FBI recruitment event in Indianapolis seeks diverse special agents
“We have a problem in the FBI and that is we do not represent, as a whole, the United States," Michaelis said. "We are approximately 18 percent minority, and the country is approximately 42 percent so there’s a major gap there that we need to fix.”
This is crucial, as they often need agents who can understand the community where they are operating, Michaelis said.
“If it’s just one type of person then they won’t understand the people that we have to operate with to conduct our investigation," Micahelis said. "We can do nothing without the public’s help, without people telling us what’s happening in the community, things that aren’t going right, things like that. So if we don’t understand them, we won’t understand their experience, their perspective, and we’ll be that far behind in our investigations.”
This means reaching out and discovering candidates hiding in plain sight.
“There are some communities were they just would never even think they could be an FBI agent, and that’s our point, to reach out and say you could be an FBI agent, and you could contribute to your community or whatever the case may be," Michaelis said.
There are a few requirements if you’re interested in becoming a special agent.
- You must have a college degree
- You must be 37 years old or younger
- You must have work experience
- You cannot be a felon
The bureau is hosting a ‘Diversity Agent Recruitment,’ or DAR event in Indianapolis from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, August 22nd.
To attend the event, you must apply and then you will receive an invitation with more details.
To apply, click here, click on search jobs in the top right banner and then search for Indianapolis DAR.
