The Federal Law Enforcement Training Accreditation (FLETA) Board ispleased to announce it granted reaccreditation status to the FederalReserve System’s Basic Law Enforcement Course at the October 31, 2013Board meeting in Brunswick, Georgia.
The Federal Reserve System's (FRS) Basic Law Enforcement Course(BLEC) provides entry level basic law enforcement training to the FRSofficers tasked with providing law enforcement and protection to thepremises, grounds, property, personnel and operations of a Reserve Bankand the Board of Governors.
The Federal Reserve System has had a structure for physicallysecuring and protecting its assets since its creation. However,it was not until the U.S Patriot Act was passed in 2001 that theFederal Reserve Act was amended to provide federal law enforcementauthority to its protection officers pursuant to Board regulations(Regulations) and with approval of the Attorney General. Specifically, the law gives Federal Reserve personnel federal lawenforcement authority to “…protect and safeguard the Board and FederalReserve Bank premises, grounds, property, personnel, andoperations.” Prior to that time, each individual Reserve Bankobtained its authority from different entities. For example, someReserve Banks derived their authority through state legislation, othersthrough municipal governments, and still others through security guardstatutes.
The FLETA Board is the accrediting body for all federal lawenforcement training and support programs. To achieve accreditation,agencies submit to an independent review of their academy and/orprogram to ensure compliance with the FLETA Standards and Procedures in the areas of: Program Administration, Training Staff, TrainingDevelopment, and Training Delivery, with an additional 20 standards forAcademies. Accreditation is a cyclical process occurringevery five years. Each year, agencies must submit annual reportsin preparation for reaccreditation, which is a new and independentreview of the academy/program.