Rebecca's Interview with
Candice DeLong
Author of
Special Agent,
My Life on the Front Lines as a Woman in the FBI
Publicity: FSB Associates

Rebecca :
Why the FBI? What spark resides in you that you set out to slay the evil dragons?

Candice :
I joined the Bureau because I had always viewed them (since childhood) with admiration and I respected what they were doing. My father was an informant for Elliott Ness when he was a teenager in the Great Depression. I grew up in a household that held federal law enforcement in high regard. When I finally met an FBI agent in 1978 and learned that women (even tiny ones) could be agents too, I jumped at the chance. And working for almost a decade in the field of psychiatry had taken it's toll on my view of the world.

Rebecca :
What particular skill did you bring with you that eventually helped create a field of investigation that has since been featured in a prime time television series?

Candice :
I think that my background as a psychiatric nurse came in handy when I got into the profiling program. I worked with offenders and victims of violent crimes over my nursing years, and I paid attention to what my patients told me.

Rebecca :
As one of the original women to break the gender monopoly in the FBI what kinds of resistance did you meet?

Candice :
I wasn't exactly one of the “original” female agents, but our ranks were only 4% when I joined in 1980. There were various forms of resistance to women in the FBI back then, some of it played out by academy instructors, some by supervisors in the field offices, & some by fellow agents.

It took different forms. Sometimes it was hard to take but mostly I just gravitated to those agents & supervisors who weren't so insecure in their own masculinity that they were threatened by “the gals.”

Rebecca :
Tell us about what investigating a long case does to your life?

Candice :
Investigating a long case can take it's toll on your personal life, to be sure. It may involve a lot of time away from home or in my case, on the UNABOM investigation, working 24/7 with someone to whom I was engaged & had a three year long relationship. In that case, it was too much time together under stressful circumstances. Being an FBI agent is a demanding, if you want to have a really good career, that is.

Rebecca :
What was the shortest case you ever worked?

Candice :
The shortest case I ever worked is detailed in my book in the chapter entitled “Girl Talk.” It also happens to be one of my favorite cases. It involved a stolen FBI handy-talkie radio. I cooked up a scam to get it back, posing as a madam for a call girl ring. From start to finish it took about eight hours, & it was hilarious.

Rebecca :
You have been in the business of detecting who did what evil to another - what do you think might happen if the FBI, CIA & the police force didn't exist?

Candice :
If the FBI, the CIA & the police didn't exist, I think that people would take matters into their own hands, just as primitive tribal groups govern themselves. I think that people are basically good & will not tolerate evil in their midst.

Rebecca :
How does marriage work within the agency & are most agents unmarried?

Candice :
Marriage in the FBI does happen, most agents seem to be married or divorced, just a few singles floating around. The divorce rate in law enforcement is as high as the general population. Many female agents marry male agents, which oftentimes works out very well.

Rebecca :
You & Elisa Petrini make a fine writing team - have you thought of another book?

Candice :
Yes, I am thinking of writing another book, & Elisa would be my first choice as a co-author. She did a marvelous job with my story & I could not be happier. Rebecca :
Thank you Candice for this peek inside. I recommend you read this book Special Agent: My Life on the Front Lines as a Woman in the FBI by Candice DeLong & Elisa Petrini.

Pick up a copy today at Amazon.Com.

(Published August 05, 2001)