New Haven — When she was accepted to this year’s FBI New Haven Citizens Academy, New London resident Katherine Goulart, who ran for City Council in 2015, had a decent idea of what to expect.

The former owner of a bail bond business, she often had “one foot in the law enforcement world.”

An activist in the community, she has attended other such academies, including the New London Neighborhood Academy and the city police’s academy.

But throughout the eight-week, Thursday night course that began March 9, the 36-year-old consistently was blown away by a characteristic not often associated with the FBI — transparency.

“That old adage ‘ask and you shall receive’?” Goulart began. “I think that’s the block a lot of times.”

In general, she explained, people are willing to approach members of their local police departments. But as one works up the ladder to state, then federal law enforcement agencies, that willingness seems to dissipate.

“The perception is that they’re bigger and badder and harder to talk to,” Goulart said. “They’re really not. They’re people like all of us and they want to have the same interaction with regular citizens that the local police department does.”

Goulart was one of 20 participants in this year’s academy, which ended May 4 with a graduation ceremony. She didn’t learn until after she was accepted that more than 100 people had applied.

Some of the topics covered in the three-hour classes included cyber crime, public corruption and counterterrorism. Along the way, students got to learn about the special agents teaching the courses, too.

Much of the information attendees received, Goulart said, was “privileged” — not classified, of course, but not necessarily publicly known, either.

Going in, Goulart thought the academy would be like the others she had attended: She would go in, sit down, get great information and go home.

Students in the FBI course, however, didn’t only receive information, she said. They also participated in hearty discussions about it and came away with goals they could work toward in their own communities.

Take the session that focused on counterterrorism, for example. Inevitably, the Islamic State and Islam in general came up. In a room filled with people of different ages, races, ethnicities and religions, an “amazing” conversation followed.

The experience, Goulart said, “helped to break a lot of stereotypes.”

In other sessions, agents presented students with real-world situations and helped them understand not only the FBI’s point of view, but also some steps the FBI might take in each case.

Along the way, Goulart and her peers asked as many questions as they could and were greeted with a “no comment” much less often than they expected.

“I’m not taking away from the other (academies),” Goulart said. “But this has given me tools to communicate more effectively with people. ... I feel like my eyes have been opened.”

An FBI document shows the first FBI Citizens Academy was hosted in Phoenix, Ariz., in 1993.

Built with input from community leaders and local police, the academies’ goals are:

[naviga:ul]

[naviga:li]To be a catalyst for improving the quality of life in area communities[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]To project a positive image of the FBI[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]To improve the FBI’s understanding of the communities it serves[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]To identify crime-related problems not already being addressed[/naviga:li]

[/naviga:ul]

In Goulart’s eyes, New Haven’s most recent academy accomplished all of the above.

Despite her past interaction with law enforcement, she came out with a changed perspective, she said. Although she already is active in the community — last summer she orchestrated an attempt to block a proposed low-income housing complex at the former Edgerton School property — she now plans to get involved with upcoming FBI-related events, some of which are still in the works. She said she's keeping in contact with other academy graduates, too — connections she believes will prove valuable.

Despite the hefty time commitment, Goulart said the academy was “worth every second.”

“I would recommend this for people who have an interest in their communities and serving and learning, for people critical of law enforcement and also anyone that has any interest in law enforcement,” Goulart said. “I think everyone can find something in it.”

l.boyle@theday.com