https://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Albany-FBI-field-office-to-hold-diversity-12759463.php
Albany FBI field office to hold diversity recruiting event
Updated 6:39 pm, Friday, March 16, 2018
Vadim Thomas, special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albany field office, stands in the Albany field office on March 16, 2018. (Massarah Mikati/Times Union)
Vadim Thomas, special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albany field office, stands in the Albany field office on March 16, 2018. (Massarah Mikati/Times Union)
ALBANY — Vadim Thomas, special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Albany field office, spent a large chunk of his career fighting Russian-organized crime in New York City.
"It was difficult at first getting them to understand that we're there to help," he said. "The culture has a tremendous distrust of law enforcement, government, and law and order, so you have to break through that."
As a refugee from Russia himself, Thomas understood the barriers firsthand. That understanding, along with his language skills and patience, allowed him to eventually succeed in penetrating the community.
Now, Thomas is working hard to push for more diversity within the FBI, which he hopes to further accomplish with a Diversity Agent Recruitment Program in Albany on April 10. Agents from various fields will be present to provide information, as well as high-ranking FBI officials from Washington, D.C. and additional leaders to talk about leadership and responsibility.
"I cannot stress enough that the FBI must reflect the diverse country it serves. Everybody can't be cut from the same cloth," he said. "We want to bring expertise and knowledge of certain cultures and languages to the FBI, that's how we're going to be successful."
According to statistics on the FBI website, over 67 percent of the agency's more than 13,000 special agents are white men and 16 percent white women. Hispanics and Latinos make up over 6 percent of the special agent ranks, while blacks and Asians each account for under 5 percent.
While Albany is the first small field office in the U.S. to host the Diversity Agent Recruitment Program, larger bureau offices have been branching out since 2016, starting in Washington, D.C. Former FBI Director James Comey has repeatedly voiced his concerns about the lack of diversity within the FBI, which have been echoed by the new director, Chris Wray.
However, progress achieved has been minimal thus far, as stated by Wray at the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in October.
"Other law enforcement are struggling with the same thing," Thomas said. "For one, the economy is doing very well, so people are getting good jobs offers — it's competitive to recruit qualified people."
Thomas also cited the FBI's year-long waiting period while candidates are vetted as a potential deterrence.
While the FBI has been vocal about efforts to diversify its workforce, it — like other law enforcement agencies — has also come under fire for its treatment of minority communities in the nation and within its workforce, potentially affecting its recruiting efforts.
Within a year of the 9/11 attacks, about 1,200 Muslims and Arabs were detained by the agency without charge, and Human Rights Watch has found that the FBI and Department of Justice "have targeted American Muslims in abusive counterterrorism 'sting operations' based on religious and ethnic identity." Last year, The Guardian reported increased scrutiny of Muslim special agents and intelligence analysts in the FBI.
As the agency has been losing black agents — down from 5.6 percent in 1997 — and struggling to bring more diversity to its ranks, law enforcement critics have cited racial disparities on police forces as one of the reasons for strained relationships with black communities nationwide, a Politico article notes.
"The only way you solve this issue is first with open lines of communication through the good and bad times," Thomas said. "The second thing is members of those communities need to come into the FBI, it's a two-way street."
Thomas stressed that the FBI is avidly embracing change.
"This is not the FBI of 1955," he said. "It's a welcoming place that wants diversity, and I want people to remember that this is a very different life and type of work from everything else in the country."
