Candice DeLong Shares Lessons from FBI Career

FBI Agent Candice DeLong shared stories from her career as an FBI special agent during a Fall 2015 visit to Meredith College. DeLong spoke to Meredith criminology students, conducted a safety workshop, and delivered a public lecture.

Until her retirement in 2000, DeLong was the head profiler in the San Francisco Division of the FBI. She served as liaison to the Bureau’s world famous Behavioral Science Unit at Quantico and was a member of the California Child Abduction Task Force.

She was a key player in some of the FBI’s most memorable cases, including the Tylenol murders, which she noted “changed the way we live our daily lives” because it motivated pharmaceutical companies to begin using tamper-proof packaging.

During her public lecture, DeLong discussed the Tylenol case and her experience as one of three agents to carry out the manhunt for the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski in Montana.

Students interested in working in law enforcement should develop their communication skills, according to DeLong.

“You need strong verbal skills – you have to be able to interview – and you need to strengthen your ability to listen and observe,” DeLong said. “Read everything you can related to your field, listen to [experienced officers] and learn from them.”

DeLong can be seen on the Investigation Discovery network’s hit shows Deadly Women and Facing Evil with Candice DeLong.

DeLong’s visit was the centerpiece of CSI Week, sponsored by Meredith’s Criminology Program. CSI Week is a showcase of criminal justice and law enforcement careers. Speakers included representatives from the U.S. Marshal Service, the Raleigh Police Department K-9 Unit, and other law and justice professionals.