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FLETA Board Grants Accreditation to two FBI Laboratory Division Programs

For Immediate Release
FBI Laboratory Division staff present their certificates for the Hazardous Materials Operations Course and Hazardous Material Crime Scene Operations Course

The Federal Law Enforcement Training Accreditation (FLETA) Board is pleased to announce it granted initial accreditation status to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Hazardous Materials Operations Course and Hazardous Material Crime Scene Operations Course at the April 14-16, 2015 meeting in Quantico, VA.

The goal of the Hazardous Materials Operations Course is to train FBI Laboratory Hazardous Materials personnel and Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) personnel assigned to FBI Hazardous Evidence Response Teams (HERT) and Hazardous Evidence Response Components (HERC) in the response and safety procedures required to safely operate within complex forensic environments for the purpose of assessing and collecting traditional and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) evidence. This course is an introductory class that uses a combination of classroom and hands-on practical exercises and is required in order to be on the HERT/HERC. The FBI certifies that each person successfully completing the course's written exam and five skills and competency evaluations meets the federal regulation and standard as an Operations Level Responder. These personnel are allowed to respond to and enter into potentially hazardous atmospheres, under the direction of a Technical Hazards Response Unit Hazardous Materials Officer or their designee.

The Hazardous Material Crime Scene Operations Course provides participants an understanding of the Hazardous Evidence Response Team's structure and how it applies to hazardous evidence collection, and FBI operational protocols, governing regulations, and U.S. statutes concerning criminal investigations performed in a Hazardous environment. The course teaches the skills required to identify, collect and preserve hazardous evidence in the course of a criminal investigation including Hazardous Evidence Response operations, the FBI's threat assessment as it relates to properties, precursors, and lab-related equipment, decontamination of personnel, collection of evidence, equipment, and termination of investigation activities at the crime scene. This includes classroom instruction and practical evaluations in laboratory and crime scene settings. Students are evaluated with one written exam and one practical exercise.

The FLETA Board is the accrediting body for all federal law enforcement training and support programs. To achieve accreditation, agencies submit to an independent review of their academy and/or program to ensure compliance with the FLETA Standards and Procedures in the areas of: Program Administration, Training Staff, Training Development, and Training Delivery, with an additional 20 standards for Academies. Accreditation is a cyclical process occurring every five years. Each year, agencies must submit annual reports in preparation for reaccreditation, which is a new and independent review of the academy/program.