L. Nicole Dunn recently announced her decision to leave the FBI after 16 years of service as one of the bureau’s few Black woman agents. But she’s doing anything but walking out the door quietly.
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Dunn, whose work in prosecuting child sex traffickers netted her awards nominations, was placed on unpaid leave in April with four years left until retirement — a move she believes was a deliberate attempt to make her resign because of the color of her skin, she told CNN’s “First of All” podcast.
Upon her exit, Dunn wrote a fiery LinkedIn post, citing that she felt forced out by a “leadership that did not want” her. She also called the agency’s current practices “appalling,” particularly criticizing the devaluation of DEI initiatives.
Her departure raises broader questions about the FBI’s internal culture and ongoing controversies, echoing concerns Dunn voiced in the post. Here are three of the major concerns she has with the bureau upon her departure.
Frustrated by internal practices
Dunn criticized the agency’s diminishment of Black workers, emphasizing that leadership is focusing on less important priorities.
“The new leadership is focused on the wrong thing. Stop worrying about race & gender and focus on what really matters,” Dunn wrote in her LinkedIn post.
With so few Black agents in the agency, she views recent moves to scale back DEI initiatives as a setback rather than progress.
“Of the approximate 13,000 agents that we once had, only about 270 were black female agents. So suffice it to say, we were not hired because we were minorities, we were hired for our skills,” Dunn wrote. “So to see the number of minority agents being pushed out, when so few of us existed in the first place, is disheartening and shocking. The public is being led to believe that many of us were hired due to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.”
“Yet, if you look at the numbers, the FBI did not have enough of a percentage of minority agents for that claim to be remotely true,” Dunn concluded.
The FBI’s apparent influx of inexperienced agents
Dunn also called out what she sees as hypocrisy in the FBI’s current hiring practices. She argued the same standards once used to deem Black agents unqualified are now being ignored for incoming agents who fall short.
“Where are those people now that the current administration has decided to ‘fast track’ training to put new agents on the street?” she wrote.
“Where are those same senators that screamed ‘DEI’ was destroying the FBI, now that you have decades worth of experienced (and properly trained) agents pushed out and replaced by inexperienced and improperly trained people—some of whom may only have a GED (General Educational Development) if coming from other government agencies?”
The FBI’s apparent disregard for foreign partners
Dunn expressed concern about the FBI’s weakening experience and partnerships with foreign agencies, which she sees as crucial to the bureau’s effectiveness. With the recent increase of military patrols on everyday streets, Dunn warned that terrorists are closely monitoring the nation’s every move to plan attacks.
“While agents patrol the streets with tasers, criminals armed with firearms are watching and waiting. Terrorists are quietly waiting,” she wrote. “So when the next attack happens, you should wonder what experienced agents will be there to pick up the pieces, because there don’t appear to be many left to prevent it.”
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