Tai, a special agent in the FBI’s San Juan, Puerto Rico office, is believed to be the first Black woman to be selected for an FBI SWAT team.
According to the FBI’s press release, she is set to undergo a New Operator Training School (NOTS) which consists of a 10-week course that prepares the individuals chosen for SWAT field operations.
If Tai passes NOTS, she will join the San Juan Division’s SWAT team as a probationary member and after six six to 18 months, she will go through more training to become officially certified.
“I’m one of those people where I have a task at hand and I just focus on that task,” she said in the release. “I don’t really think about people looking at me,” she said.
“Hopefully somebody will see that I was able to do it,” the agent added. “I’m not the biggest person. I’m not as strong as some of these guys. But as long as you have perseverance – because it does get really tough – you push through it and keep going.”
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Tai was a deputy with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in Orlando for five years before she joined the FBI and has always had a passion for helping the community.
“I like to help,” she said. “Even on patrol, I’d always say that jail isn’t always the answer. Sometimes someone just needs to be listened to or things can be worked out. That’s just part of listening and trying to help the community that I was serving.”
She initially began NOTS in May, but was deployed to Oklahoma City for a temporary duty assignment and will go back to complete the rest of her training.
“I’m definitely thankful for all the Black women before me in the FBI,” Tai said. “Because if it didn’t start with that one, who knows how many there would be today, if any. I’m definitely grateful for all of them before me.”
Tai’s ROTC instructor at Bethune-Cookman, Maj. Earl Fillmore, Jr., never expected anything less of his former cadet and is proud of her accomplishments, as he always noticed her leadership skills.
“The big thing about her is her mental fortitude,” said Maj. Fillmore, director of military affairs at Bethune-Cookman. “She’s really resilient. She’s got all the characteristics you would want in a good FBI agent and also the characteristics you want in an Army officer.”
