By Jason Lefevre, FLETC OPA
There are a variety of reasons for someone to pursue a profession, some more unique than others. For FLETC Continuous Case Investigation Coordinator/Senior Instructor Thomas Hall, it all started with a rewarding experience at a young age.
“I just had the idea when I was growing up that I wanted to get into law enforcement,” said Hall. “Some of that was based on an experience I had. We thought someone was breaking into our house when I was young, and we called the police. And the police showed up and it was that feeling you get when they’re there and you feel safe. I wanted to bring that feeling to others, that same sense of people knowing they’ve got somebody here who’s going to help out.”
Hall, who works in the Investigative Applications Branch (IAP), Investigative Operations Division (IOD), has been with FLETC for four years. And, as his job title suggests, he works with basic training students in the Criminal Investigative Training Program (CITP) on the continuing case.
“Essentially from day one, the day the students start CITP, we open up our lectures and begin assigning them cases they’re going to see through the entire three-month training program”, said Hall. “It starts off with case predication. We give them the beginning of the case and we just work that entire case. It’s a three-month process that we work with the students, which is one of the things that I really like about this particular branch and division.”
Once students receive the overview of their case, they follow a sequential training sequence from investigation to prosecution.
“We take them through case initiation and all the investigative steps,” said Hall. “We start off with surveillance, then we move from there to arrest operations, into undercover work, into search warrants, into the actual after-the-handcuffs have been placed on the suspects with the courtroom testimony in conjunction with legal.”
“They take all the skillsets they’ve learned from us and the other divisions, whether that’s handcuffing, frisking, 4th Amendment training, all of those things they take and use in this case so they can practice them and rehearse them during their labs and their practical exams.”
Hall and the other instructors in the IOB see the CITP students on and off throughout their three-month training, which helps build a special relationship between student and instructor.
“We’re with the students on day one and we’re with them on the very last day before they graduate,” Hall said. “It’s a very close relationship because there are times when we are the instructors and other times when we’re more in the mentor role with student-centered learning and guiding them through scenarios.”
“This is the most fun job in FLETC because we get that feedback from them, we see them day one, we see that growth from them over the three months, we really get to participate in their development. And watching that, it’s just as exciting now for me as it was four years ago when I started.”
Before coming to FLETC, Hall worked in several law enforcement roles, most recently with the U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Security Service.
“I spent 13 years with the U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Security Service as a special agent,” said Hall. “I spent six years in the Boston field office where I primarily conducted passport and visa fraud cases. We support embassy operations – I did a stint in Haiti after the devastating earthquake in 2010. I spent 24 days down there helping American citizens and evacuations and helped with embassy security because of all the people outside the embassy. I did three years in Washington D.C. under the Dignitary Protection Division which was protecting U.S. diplomats and foreign diplomats. I was mostly assigned to the U.S. United Nations Ambassador. And I did two years at the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi as part of the security detail there.”
While in Abu Dhabi, he and his family had a unique experience.
“My kids learned to ice skate in Abu Dhabi over in the Middle East. How about that? Kids from Massachusetts learning to ice skate in the Emirates!”
Family time and traveling is sort of a theme with Hall and his family: his wife, Stephanie, and his children Alexis and Turner.
“Outside of work, I love family time. My wife and two kids, we’ve travelled. A lot. We’ve traveled quite a bit and I think the kids have really enjoyed it, and because of the travel they are very interested in world events, different languages, history, different cultures, which is really rewarding.”
“I loved living in foreign countries,” continued Hall. “You get to meet so many different people from so many different backgrounds and so many different cultures. You can find commonalities with a lot of people just by being out there and being diverse.”
Hall is also happy staying in one place for a while, especially where he’s at now and with the people he’s with.
“It really is a true pleasure for me to work with the greatest instructors within the division,” said Hall. “Our division has such good people, and there’s so much experience from a wide variety of different agencies. It’s such a force multiplier that we have so many great instructors in IOD, and I’m sure it’s enterprise wide. These instructors are the best in the business. The various experience in different agencies provides a well-rounded experience to the benefit of the students.”
