The Federal Law Enforcement Training Accreditation (FLETA) Board is pleased to announce it granted reaccreditation status to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) National Criminal Investigation Training Academy (NCITA) and the IRS Special Agent Basic Training Program at the November 5, 2009 meeting held in San Francisco, California.
The NCITA’s primary focus is training new special agents in the fundamentals of financial investigations, including elements of tax offenses, methods of proof unique to Federal tax investigations and all of the requisite knowledge, skills, and abilities to be Federal law enforcement's finest financial investigators. The NCITA is responsible for the development and delivery of all Special Agent training, beginning with the Special Agent Basic Training (SABT) program which consists of three phases: 1) Pre-Basic, a three-day class during which agents receive the material they need as new IRS employees; 2) Criminal Investigator Training Program (CITP), during which agents learn basic marksmanship, policing skills, defensive tactics, constitutional law and the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure; and 3) Special Agent Investigative Techniques (SAIT), where agents acquire the specific knowledge and practice the techniques which allow them to become criminal investigators.
FLETA Alternate Board Member Diane Schwarz complimented the IRS on their comprehensive approach and attention to detail in their training programs. She recognized the amount of work that goes into the Design Phase of their curriculum development and noted in particular the “Job Task to Objectives Matrix” identified by the assessment team as a Best Practice.
It is the Board’s goal to improve the Federal law enforcement community with each accreditation, and the Board has now awarded 33 program accreditations and 11 academy accreditations.
To achieve accreditation, an agency must undergo a voluntary thorough assessment of their academy and/or program to ensure compliance with the FLETA standards. These professional standards were developed to increase agency effectiveness and efficiency. The standards address the following areas: Academy Administration; Qualifications and Development of Training Staff; Program Administration; and Program and Curriculum Development. The FLETA Board is nationally recognized by Federal law enforcement agencies, as well as stakeholders in law enforcement training.
To maintain accredited status, agencies are required to submit annual reports to the FLETA Board and participate in a reaccreditation process every three years. If you would like more information regarding the FLETA process, please visit the website at www.FLETA.gov or contact FLETA at 912-261-3684.