The Federal Law Enforcement Training Accreditation (FLETA) Board ispleased to announce it granted program reaccreditation status to twoU.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) programs, Task Based LanguageTeaching (TBLT) and Basic Entry Specialist Training (BEST), at theApril 25, 2013 meeting in Brunswick, Georgia.
The TBLTP was designed by the CBP Border Patrol Academy to provideBorder Patrol Agent trainees who are not proficient in the Spanishlanguage with the necessary communication and comprehension skills theyneed to perform, in Spanish, critical tasks required of a Border PatrolAgent. The TBLTP is a 320-hour program. Upon arrival at the academy,trainees are administered a telephonic Spanish language proficiencyexam. Those students deemed proficient are sent to the field uponsuccessful completion of the CBP Border Patrol Academy. Those studentsidentified as not proficient in the Spanish language must alsosuccessfully complete the TBLT program before entering the field.
The BEST program was designed by the CBP Field Operations Academyfor CBP Entry Specialists in grades 5/7/9/11. Entry Specialists arenon-uniformed personnel who serve as the liaison and main overseer forassigned Customs House brokerage firms (broker) for a given port. Some Entry Specialists are account managers for select brokers. CBPEntry Specialists are the main conduit for broker compliance issues.The BEST program is a 92-hour program in Academy training time. The BEST is a combination of classroom and computer lab.
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 inthe areas of: Program Administration, Training Staff, TrainingDevelopment, and Training Delivery, with an additional 20 standards forAcademies. Accreditation is a cyclical process occurring every threeyears. Each year, agencies must submit annual reports in preparationfor reaccreditation, which is a new and independent review of theacademy/program.