FBI to Lower Recruiting Standards, Cut College Degree Requirement and Training Time
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is reportedly planning to lower its recruitment standards as the agency prepares for the departure of some 5,000 employees in September due to the Trump Administration's severance and early retirement packages.
The New York Times reports that under a plan pushed by FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino, the FBI will eliminate the requirement that new recruits hold a college degree. The FBI training period will also reportedly be cut from 18 weeks to eight weeks.
The move will allow the FBI to draw from other federal law enforcement agencies, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), including criminal investors who are classified as 1811s.
Current and former agents tell the Times that the plan appears to shift the FBI’s focus to street crime and being more of a police force, instead of taking on complicated cases involving financial fraud, public corruption, and national security.
“When you lower the standards, your mission effectiveness goes down with that, because not only does the capability of each individual agent decline, but your reputation, both domestically and globally, takes a hit,” said Chris O’Leary, a former FBI agent and senior counterterrorism official.
Adding to the changes is the recent hiring of Andrew Bailey as co-deputy director, serving alongside Deputy Director Bongino. O’Leary noted that the confusion in top leadership and the cut in training standards may show that the FBI will “do the bidding of the administration, no matter what it is.”
The news comes as law enforcement at both the federal and state and local levels, is lowering recruitment standards to get more recruits in the door.
Amidst its own staffing push, ICE recently removed age limits and dropped requirements for recruits to take Spanish courses.