History - FLETC - Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
FLETC History
In 1968 an interagency task force completed a study on Federal law enforcement training.
The study disclosed that the quality of training provided to Federal law enforcement
personnel varied greatly among agencies. Differences that existed in training program
content, quality of training facilities and quality of faculty among the agencies resulted
in most training being inadequate at worst and substandard at best. With a few notable
exceptions, most training was conducted in deficient facilities, using part-time
instructors, often on an intermittent or sporadic basis. Much of the training was
duplicative of, or inconsistent with, other Federal training.
The task force proposed an innovative and unique solution to address this Government-wide
problem. They recommended that a consolidated Federal Law Enforcement Training Center be
established. It would have a professionally trained, full-time staff offering consistent
and high quality programs in state-of-the-art facilities. In 1970, the Departments of the
Treasury, Interior, Justice, the U.S. Civil Service Commission, the Smithsonian
Institution, the Office of Management and Budget, and the U.S. Postal Service, agencies
that comprised the bulk of the Federal Government's law enforcement activity, implemented
the recommendation by signing the Memorandum of Understanding for the Establishment of the
Consolidated Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, now known as the Federal Law
Enforcement Training Center. The Treasury Department was chosen to provide the
administrative support for this new organization because of Treasury's experience in
operating a multi-bureau training organization, The Treasury Law Enforcement Training
School.
The FLETC was established by Treasury Order No. 217 on March 2, 1970 and began operations
in Washington, DC. Renamed by Amendment 1 to Treasury Order No. 217 on August 14, 1975,
the Center relocated to its current headquarters facility at Glynn County ("Glynco"), Georgia and began
training activities on September 3, 1975. Secretary of the Treasury William Simon
officially opened the FLETC at Glynco on September 12, 1975.
The FLETC headquarters at Glynco is located equidistant between Savannah, Georgia and
Jacksonville, Florida on the southeast Georgia coast. In addition to the headquarters
operation at Glynco, the FLETC has a satellite training center in the southwestern United
States, located in Artesia , New Mexico, and an office in Washington, D.C.
The FLETC's clientele base was established with the eight original signatories to the
Memorandum of Understanding for the Sponsorship and Operation of the Consolidated Federal
Law Enforcement Training Center on September 30, 1970. The FLETC now provides quality
training in a consolidated training environment to more than 70 agencies, most of which
would otherwise have been unable to adequately train their personnel.
http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/ustreas/fletc/history.htm
Created by John Pike
Maintained by Steven Aftergood
Updated Sunday, August 30, 1998 7:08:44 AM
