The mission of the FBI's Community Outreach Program (COP) is to provide a comprehensive program that deals with multiple interrelated societal problems, including crime, drugs, and violence, in support of the FBI's investigative mission.

FBI Citizen's Academy
A major program offered by the Birmingham Division COP is the FBI Citizen's Academy. An annual program, the Citizen's Academy runs for one night a week for a period of 9 weeks. The Academy strives to develop an awareness within our community of the role of the FBI and an appreciation of issues facing the FBI and law enforcement in accomplishing our mission. Participants in the FBI CITIZEN'S ACADEMY gain an education and awareness of FBI operations, jurisdiction and programs, as well as create new relationship with fellow citiizens who share our vision for a safer community.

Director's Community Leadership Award
Other initiatives include the Director's Community Leadership Award. This award recognizes the achievements of individuals and/or organizations who are actively involved in crime, gang, drug and violence prevention and education. The recipient of 2002 Director's award from the Birmingham Division was G. Douglas Jones, the former United States Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama. Mr. Jones was the lead prosecutor in the trials that resulted in the convictions of Thomas Blanton and Bobby Frank Cherry for the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church which occurred in 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama.

Division tours
The FBI Birmingham continues to incorporate the drug-demand reduction message into the scheduled tours of the office, where the most frequent tour groups are local schools, Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, and Girl Scouts.

For More Information
FBI Birmingham's Community Outreach Coordinator, Paul Daymond, can be contacted at (205)715-0395 (office), (205)715-0232 (fax), or in writing at FBI Birmingham, Attention Community Outreach Program.