United States Federal Witness Protection Program
Born Neal George Bennett ("Compromising Positions" | Season 4: episode 7), Neal grew up in United States Federal Witness Protection Program under the name Danny Brooks in St. Louis, Missouri. His mother told him that his father, James Bennett, a police detective in the Washington, D.C. Metro Police Department, died when he was two years old, while taking out a bunch of bad guys. Neal grew up wanting to be just like him: intending to be a police officer and training with guns. However, when he was 18, Ellen Parker, his father's former partner, told him the truth: His father is still alive, but is not a hero. James had been arrested for the murder of a fellow police officer when Neal was three years old. ("Diminishing Returns" | Season 4: episode 3) After finding out this information, Neal left WITSEC and took his mother's maiden name, Caffrey. Now, he can still use guns, but prefers not to, and shows strong distaste towards firearms in general. Neal did not graduate from high school; he also did not attend college, although he has, (most likely) fictitiously acquired three MBAs and two doctorate degrees ("Copycat Caffrey" | Season 2: episode 3).