CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- More than two dozen Charlotte-area religious, business, and community leaders got a rare look behind the scenes of the Charlotte office of the FBI Thursday night.
The Academy participants had the chance to spend time with members of the Evidence Response Team--agents who work at major crime scenes gathering crucial evidence to help solve a crime.
The idea behind the Academy was for everyone to learn a little bit more about each other.
To have some dialog with the FBI and really find out the intimate workings of what the FBI does, is the reason Abdellah Sudan said he wanted to take part in the annual program.
Academy participants got to see the latest techniques the evidence response team uses at crime scenes.
Many of the agents in Charlotte were deployed to gather evidence at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon after 9-11.
Emotions can run high at times between law enforcement and the community, but Academy participants said they now believe there is room for dialog.
I now feel that learning more about the FBI, that I can be a part of the community and be a part of the FBI--a link, said Dr. Wendy Smoliak, an Academy participant.
Before the session ends later this spring, participants will be given the chance to go to the FBI firing range and fire some of the same weapons that agents use in the field.
