ATLANTA — As Women’s History Month came to a close, Channel 2 Action News was able to take an exclusive look inside the FBI’s Atlanta headquarters to highlight how women are helping to solve some of the area’s biggest cases.
While the field may be dominated by men, Channel 2′s Justin Carter was able to see just how unlikely it would be that many cases would be solved without the support of female agents.
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During summer 2019, Operation Independence Day was a month-long operation that worked to identify victims and criminals behind sex trafficking in Atlanta. Six juveniles were rescued in Atlanta and 67 traffickers were arrested nationwide.
“In order for us to best solve cases and best protect the community and United States citizens, we have to be able to have a different perspectives, whether that is age, race, gender,” said Supervisory Special Agent Marlo Graham.
Graham says she can’t speak about specific cases, like Operation Independence Day, but says who is often overlooked is the women behind these operations.
“I need to bring that diversity to the room, and sometimes that room is a lot of men. So I’m bringing a woman’s perspective, and a lot of times I’m bringing a minority perspective,” Graham told Channel 2′s Justin Carter.
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Amanda Gulli is a victim specialist and is often the first person people see after something terrible happens.
“As the victim is navigating the criminal justice system, and the investigation, we don’t want them just idly sitting and traumatized. Helping them start to rebuild that new normal because their life isn’t going to be the same after they’ve been victimized,” Gulli said.
When mass shootings happen, Gulli says she is on the victim’s response team, setting up safe places on scene where families go to be notified and updated.
“We are providing that little nugget of hope in somebody’s darkest moments,” she explained.
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From there, people like Denise Taiste and Monica Alvarez pick up the case.
Taiste is a community outreach specialist who was on the scene in the aftermath of the spa shootings in 2020. Since then, she has gone all over the region helping with situational awareness trainings.
“[We] met with them, talked to them, heard their concerns, because again, we feel their pain. That was a hurtful thing,” Taiste explained. “As you say, active shooters. Nobody wants to say it, but its real. We are in that time, and its been very fruitful in the community where spinoffs have been coming back.”
Special Agent in Charge Keri Farley is also making history as the first woman in that role in Atlanta. She’ll be transitioning into that role from New York City in May.
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