   #copyright

Federal Bureau of Investigation

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Law

   Federal Bureau of Investigation
   Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity
            Director: Robert Mueller
               Department: Justice
                   Divisions:
     * FBI Academy
     * FBI Laboratory
     * Criminal Justice Information Services

                  Major units:
     * Behavioural Analysis Unit (BAU)
     * Critical Incident Response Group (CIRG)
     * Counterterrorism Division (CTD)
     * Law Enforcement Bulletin Unit (LEBU)
     * Hostage Rescue Team (HRT)
     * Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF)
     * National Security Service (NSS)

                     Lists:
     * List of FBI Directors
     * List of FBI Field Offices

                    Programs:
     * Notable operations
          + COINTELPRO
     * Crime statistics
          + NIBRS
          + Uniform Crime Reports
     * Most wanted
          + FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives
          + FBI Most Wanted Terrorists
     * Tools of the FBI
          + Carnivore
          + InfraGard

                   Key people:
     * W. Mark Felt
     * Joseph L. Gormley

                 Miscellaneous:
     * FBI portrayal in the media

   The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a federal criminal
   investigative, intelligence agency, and the primary investigative arm
   of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). At present, the FBI
   has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200
   categories of federal crimes , making the FBI the de-facto lead law
   enforcement agency of the United States government. The motto of the
   bureau is "Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity."

   Starting in 1908 as the Bureau of Investigation (BOI), the FBI did not
   receive its current name until 1935. J. Edgar Hoover, the first FBI
   Director, continuing his tenure from the BOI, was the longest-serving
   FBI director to date. He also is responsible for many of the
   advancements and changes that made way for it to become one of the top
   investigative agencies in the world. The J. Edgar Hoover building, the
   FBI Academy, and the Criminal Justice Information Services Complex
   serve as the main support offices for each of the field offices that
   are located throughout the country.

Overall mission

   The mission of the FBI is to protect and defend the United States
   against terrorist and foreign threats, to uphold and enforce the
   criminal laws of the United States, and to provide leadership and
   criminal justice services to federal, state, municipal, and
   international agencies and partners. Title 28 of the United States Code
   (U.S. Code), Section 533, authorizes the Attorney General to "appoint
   officials to detect ... crimes against the United States." Other
   federal statutes give the FBI the authority and responsibility to
   investigate specific crimes.

   Information obtained through an FBI investigation is presented to the
   appropriate U.S. Attorney or Department of Justice (DOJ) official, who
   decides if prosecution or other action is warranted.

   Currently, the FBI top investigative priorities have been assigned to
   these areas:
    1. Protect the United States from terrorist attack (see Terrorism);
    2. Protect the United States against foreign intelligence operations
       and espionage (see Counter-espionage);
    3. Protect the United States against cyber-based attacks and
       high-technology crimes (see Cyber-warfare);
    4. Combat public corruption at all levels;
    5. Protect civil rights;
    6. Combat transnational/national criminal organizations and
       enterprises (see Organized crime);
    7. Combat major white-collar crime;
    8. Combat significant violent crime;
    9. Support federal, state, local and international partners; and
   10. Upgrade technology for successful performance of the FBI's mission.

   J. Edgar Hoover Building, FBI Headquarters
   Enlarge
   J. Edgar Hoover Building, FBI Headquarters

   As of June 2006, the FBI's top priority is counter-terrorism. The
   second priority is counter-intelligence. The USA PATRIOT Act increased
   the powers allotted to the FBI, especially in wiretapping and
   monitoring of Internet activity. One of the most controversial
   provisions of the act is the so-called sneak and peek provision,
   granting the FBI powers to search a house while the residents are away,
   and not requiring them to notify the residents for several weeks
   afterwards. Under the PATRIOT Act's provisions the FBI also resumed
   inquiring into the library records of those who are suspected of
   terrorism (something it had supposedly not done since the 1970s). The
   third and fourth priorities are cyber crimes and public corruption. The
   cyber crimes category includes distribution of computer viruses and
   other malicious code. It also includes online distribution of child
   pornography among other crimes.

   The FBI continues its historic mission of fighting organized crime. The
   FBI targets the organization behind the crime rather than individual
   criminals committing individual crimes. The FBI's chief tool against
   organized crime is the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations
   (RICO) Act. The FBI is also charged with the responsibility of
   enforcing compliance of the United States Civil Rights Act of 1964 and
   investigating violations of the act in addition to prosecuting such
   violations with the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). The FBI
   also shares concurrent jurisdiction with the Drug Enforcement
   Administration (DEA) in the enforcement of the Controlled Substances
   Act of 1970.

History

   The FBI originated from a force of Special Agents created on July 26,
   1908, by Attorney General Charles Joseph Bonaparte during the
   presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. At first, it was named the Bureau of
   Investigation (BOI) and it did not become the FBI until 1935.

   On July 1, 1932, the Bureau was renamed the United States Bureau of
   Investigation. One year later on July 1, 1933, it was linked with the
   Bureau of Prohibition and became known as the Division of
   Investigation. Finally, in 1935, the bureau was renamed the Federal
   Bureau of Investigation. J. Edgar Hoover, who served as a BOI director
   and the FBI first director, served for forty-eight years. After
   Hoover's death, the FBI imposed a policy limiting the tenure of future
   FBI directors to a maximum of ten years. The Scientific Crime Detection
   Laboratory (now known as the FBI Laboratory) officially opened on
   November 24, 1932 in which Hoover was a major force behind it opening.
   Hoover had a major say in most of the cases and projects the FBI
   handled all the way up to his death. During the 1930s, the agency
   played a prominent role in apprehending a number of well-known
   criminals who had conducted kidnappings, robberies, and murders
   throughout the nation. These included John Dillinger, "Baby Face"
   Nelson, Kate "Ma" Barker, Alvin Karpis and George "Machine Gun" Kelly.
   It also played a decisive role in reducing the scope and influence of
   the Ku Klux Klan. Through the work of Edwin Atherton, the FBI claimed
   success in apprehending an entire army of Mexican neo-revolutionaries
   along the California border in the 1920s.
   Lester J. Gillis, also known as "Baby Face" Nelson. Photo from the FBI
   files
   Enlarge
   Lester J. Gillis, also known as "Baby Face" Nelson. Photo from the FBI
   files

   Beginning with the 1940s and continuing into the 1970s, the agency
   investigated cases of espionage against the United States and its
   allies. Eight Nazi agents who had planned sabotage operations against
   American targets were arrested, six of whom were executed ( Ex parte
   Quirin). Also during this time, a joint US/UK code breaking effort (
   Venona) - which the FBI was heavily involved in and working on - broke
   Soviet diplomatic and intelligence communications codes, allowing the
   US and British governments to read Soviet communications. This effort
   confirmed the existence of Americans working in the United States for
   Soviet intelligence. Hoover was administering this project and did not
   even notify the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) until 1952. Other
   notable cases included the arrest of Soviet spy Rudolf Abel in 1957.

   During the 1950s and 1960s, FBI officials showed increased alarm about
   civil rights leaders who were perceived to be overly militant. In 1956,
   for example, Hoover took the rare step of sending an open letter
   denouncing Dr. T.R.M. Howard, a civil rights leader, surgeon, and
   wealthy entrepreneur in Mississippi who had criticized FBI inaction in
   solving recent murders of George W. Lee, Emmett Till, and other blacks
   in the South. The FBI carried out controversial domestic surveillance
   in an operation called COINTELPRO. It aimed at investigating and
   disrupting dissident political organizations within the United States,
   including militant organizations and non-violent movements, including
   the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a leading civil rights
   organization.

   Martin Luther King, Jr. was a frequent target of investigation. The FBI
   found no evidence of any crime, but attempted to use tapes of King
   involved in sexual activity for blackmail. Washington Post journalist
   Carl Rowan 1991 memoirs, asserted that the FBI had sent at least one
   anonymous letter to King encouraging him to commit suicide.

   When President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed, the jurisdiction
   fell to the local police departments, but then President Lyndon B.
   Johnson directed the FBI to take over the investigation. To ensure that
   there would never be any more confusion over who would handle homicides
   at the federal level, Congress passed a law that put investigations of
   deaths of federal officials within FBI jurisdiction.

   After the RICO Act took effect, the FBI started investigating the
   former Prohibition organized groups, which by now become fronts for
   crime in major cities and even small towns. All of the FBI work was
   done undercover and from within these organizations using the
   provisions provided in the RICO act, these groups were dismantled.
   Although Hoover initially doubted the existence of a close-knit
   organized crime network in the United States, the bureau later
   conducted operations against known organized crime syndicates and
   families, including those headed by Sam Giancana and John Gotti. The
   RICO act is still used today for all organized crime and any
   individuals that might fall under the act.
   J. Edgar Hoover, FBI Director (1924-1972)
   Enlarge
   J. Edgar Hoover, FBI Director (1924-1972)

   In 1984 the FBI formed an elite SWAT team to help with problems that
   might arise at the 1984 Summer Olympics including terrorism and
   major-crime. The formation of the team arose from the 1972 Summer
   Olympics at Munich, Germany when terrorists murdered Israeli Athletes.
   The team was named Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) and acts as the FBI lead
   for SWAT related procedures and all Counter-Terrorism cases. Also
   formed in 1984 was the Computer Analysis and Response Team (CART) that
   would investigate all matters into and including gathering evidence.
   During the end of the 1980s and the early part of the 1990s, saw the
   reassigning over 300 agents from foreign counter-intelligence duties to
   violent crime and making violent crime the sixth national priority. But
   with reduced cuts to other departments that have already been
   established, bearing in mind that terrorism was no longer a threat due
   to the Cold war ending, the FBI became a tool by local police forces
   for finding and hunting down fugitives that crossed state lines which
   was an established federal felony at the time. The FBI Laboratory also
   helped in their development due to DNA testing just as they do with
   their fingerprinting system in 1924.

   Between 1993 and 1996 the FBI however increased its terrorism role in
   wake of the first 1993 World Trade Centre Bombing in New York, New
   York, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building (1995) in
   Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and the arrest of the UNABOMBER in 1996.
   Improvements in their technology and Laboratory skills paid off when
   all three of these cases were successfully prosecuted, but the FBI
   would also have a string of public outcry during this time, which still
   haunts the agency today. Once the Communications Assistance for Law
   Enforcement Act (CALEA) of 1994, the Health Insurance Portability and
   Accountability Act (HIPA) of 1996, and the Economic Espionage Act, also
   in 1996, were passed in congress the FBI followed suit also upgrading
   their technological skills in 1998, just as it did in 1991 with the
   CART team. Computer Investigations and Infrastructure Threat Assessment
   Centre (CITAC) and the National Infrastructure Protection Centre (NIPC)
   were created to deal with the increased growth of the World Wide Web
   related incidents from virus, worms, and other malicious programs that
   might cause havoc on the US Internet structure. This helped the FBI
   also conduct court-authorized electronic surveillance in major
   investigations affecting public safety and national security in the
   face of telecommunications advancement.

   With months after the September 11, 2001 attacks, current FBI Director
   Robert Mueller, who was only sworn in three days before the attacks,
   called for a re-engineering of FBI structure and operations. In turn he
   made every federal crime a top priority, including prevention of
   terrorist attacks, countering foreign intelligence operations,
   addressing cyber crime-based attacks, other high-technology crimes,
   protecting civil rights, combating public corruption, organized crime,
   white-collar crime, and major acts of violent crime all of which now
   fall under the top investigative priorities of the FBI mission.

Organization

   The FBI is headquartered at the J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington,
   D.C., with 56 field offices in major cities across the United States.
   The FBI also maintains over 400 resident agencies across the United
   States, as well as over 50 legal attachés at United States embassies
   and consulates. Many specialized FBI functions are located at
   facilities in Quantico, Virginia, as well as in Clarksburg, West
   Virginia. The FBI is in process of moving its Records Management
   Division, which processes FOIA requests, to Winchester, Virginia.
   An FBI Agent tags the cockpit voice recorder from EgyptAir Flight 990
   on the deck of the USS Grapple (ARS 53) at the crash site on November
   13, 1999.
   Enlarge
   An FBI Agent tags the cockpit voice recorder from EgyptAir Flight 990
   on the deck of the USS Grapple (ARS 53) at the crash site on November
   13, 1999.

   The FBI Laboratory, established with the formation of the BOI, did not
   appear in the J. Edgar Hoover Building until its completion in 1974.
   The lab serves as the primary lab for most DNA, biological, and
   physical work. Public tours of FBI headquarters ran through the FBI
   laboratory workspace before the move to the J. Edgar Hoover Building.
   The services the lab conducts include Chemistry, Combined DNA Index
   System (CODIS), Computer Analysis and Response, DNA Analysis, Evidence
   Response, Explosives, Firearms and Tool marks, Forensic Audio, Forensic
   Video, Image Analysis, Forensic Science Research, Forensic Science
   Training, Hazardous Materials Response, Investigative and Prospective
   Graphics, Latent Prints, Materials Analysis, Questioned Documents,
   Racketeering Records, Special Photographic Analysis, Structural Design,
   and Trace Evidence. The services of the FBI Laboratory are used by many
   state, local, and international agencies free of charge. The lab also
   maintains a second lab at the FBI Academy.

   The FBI Academy, located in Quantico, Virginia, is home to the
   communications and computer laboratory the FBI utilizes. It also serves
   at the main places where new agents are sent to become FBI Special
   Agents. Going through the eighteen week course is a must for every
   Special Agent. It was first opened for use in 1972 on 385 acres (1.6
   km²) of woodland. The Academy also servers as a classroom for state and
   local law enforcement agencies who are invited onto the premiere law
   enforcement training centre. The FBI units that reside at Quantico are
   the Field and Police Training Unit, Firearms Training Unit, Forensic
   Science Research and Training Centre, Technology Services Unit (TSU),
   Investigative Training Unit, Law Enforcement Communication Unit,
   Leadership and Management Science Unit's (LSMU), Physical Training
   Unit, New Agents' Training Unit (NATU), Practical Applications Unit
   (PAU), and the Investigative Computer Training Unit.

   The Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division, located in
   Clarksburg, West Virginia. It is the youngest division of the FBI only
   being formed in 1991 and opening in 1995. The complex itself is the
   length of three football fields. Its purpose is to provide a main
   repository for information. Under the roof of the CJIS are the programs
   for the National Crime Information Centre (NCIC), Uniform Crime
   Reporting (UCR), Fingerprint Identification, Integrated Automated
   Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS), NCIC 2000, and the National
   Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). Many state and local agencies
   use these systems as a source for their own investigations and
   contribute to the database using secure communications. FBI provides
   these tools of sophisticated identification and information services to
   local, state, federal, and international law enforcement agencies.

   The FBI often works in conjunction with other Federal agencies,
   including the United States Coast Guard and Customs and Border Patrol
   (CBP) in seaport security, and the National Transportation Safety Board
   in investigating airplane crashes and other critical incidents. The FBI
   has the authority to take the charge of any federal investigation
   because of the broad power the FBI carries. Immigration and Customs
   Enforcement (ICE) is the only other agency with the closest amount of
   investigative power. In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the
   FBI always maintains a role in most federal criminal investigations.

BOI and FBI directors

   FBI Directors are appointed by the President of the United States. They
   must be confirmed by the United States Senate and serve ten-year terms.
   J. Edgar Hoover, appointed by Calvin Coolidge, was by far the longest
   serving FBI Director, serving until his death in 1972 because there was
   no law limiting the amount of years a director could serve. The current
   FBI Director is Robert Mueller, who was appointed in 2001 by George W.
   Bush.

   The FBI director is responsible for the day-to-day operations at the
   FBI. Along with his deputies, the director makes sure cases and
   operations are handled correctly. The director also is in charge of
   making sure the leadership in any one of the FBI field offices are
   manned with qualified agents. Before the September 11, 2001 attacks,
   the FBI director would brief the President of the United States on any
   issues that arise from within the FBI. Since then the director now
   reports to the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) who in turn
   tells the President of the United States.

Hiring process

   Agents in training on the FBI Academy firing range
   Enlarge
   Agents in training on the FBI Academy firing range

   While the exact process and details are classified, the process of
   becoming an employee of the FBI is arduous. At a minimum, FBI employees
   require a Top Secret (TS) security clearance, and in many instances,
   employees need a higher level, TS/SCI clearance. In order to get a
   security clearance, all potential FBI personnel must pass a series of
   Single Scope Background Investigations (SSBI), which are conducted by
   the Office of Personnel Management. Special Agents candidates also have
   to pass a rigorous Physical Fitness Test (PFT) that includes a
   300-meter run, one-minute sit-ups, maximum push-ups, and a 1.5-mile
   run.

   After potential special agent candidates are cleared with TS clearance
   and the Form SF-312 non-disclosure agreement is signed, they attend the
   FBI training facility located on Marine Corps Base Quantico in
   Virginia. Candidates spend approximately 18 weeks at the FBI Academy,
   where they receive over 500 classroom hours and over 1000 simulated law
   enforcement hours to train. Upon graduation, new FBI Special Agents are
   placed all around the country and the world, depending on their areas
   of expertise. Professional support staff works out of one of the many
   support buildings the FBI maintains. However, any Agent or Support
   staff member can be transferred to any location for any length of time
   if their skills are deemed necessary at one of the FBI field offices or
   one of the 400 resident agencies the FBI maintains.

   Currently the FBI employs over 12,000 Special Agents and over 17,000
   professional support personnel, although the exact number is
   classified. The website of the FBI places the number around 30,430
   employees. That includes 12,515 special agents and 17,915 support
   staff.

Publications

   The FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin is published monthly by the FBI Law
   Enforcement Communication Unit, with articles of interest to state and
   local law enforcement personnel. First published in 1932 as Fugitives
   Wanted by Police, the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin covers topics
   including law enforcement technology and issues, such as crime mapping
   and use of force, as well as recent criminal justice research, and
   VICAP alerts, on wanted suspects and key cases.

   The FBI also publishes some reports for both law enforcement personnel
   as well as regular citizens covering topics including law enforcement,
   terrorism, cybercrime, white-collar crime, violent crime, and
   statistics. However, the vast majority of Federal government
   publications covering these topics are published by the Office of
   Justice Programs agencies of the United States Department of Justice,
   and disseminated through the National Criminal Justice Reference
   Service.

Crime statistics

Uniform Crime Reports

   The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) compile data from over 17,000 law
   enforcement agencies across the country. They provide detailed data
   regarding the volume of crimes to include arrest, clearance (or closing
   a case), and law enforcement officer information. The UCR focuses its
   data collection on violent crimes, hate crimes, and property crimes.
   Created in the 1920s, the UCR system has not proven to be as uniform as
   its name implies. The UCR data only reflect the most serious offense in
   the case of connected crimes and has a very restrictive definition of
   rape. Since about 93% of the data submitted to the FBI is in this
   format, the UCR stands out as the publication of choice as most states
   require law enforcement agencies to submit this data.

   Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report for 2005 was released on June
   16, 2006. The report shows violent crime offenses rose 2.5%, but the
   number of property crime offenses decreased 1.6% compared to 2004.

National Incident Based Reporting System

   The National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) crime statistics
   system aims to address limitations inherent in UCR data. The system
   used by law enforcement agencies in the United States for collecting
   and reporting data on crimes. Local, state, and federal agencies
   generate NIBRS data from their records management systems. Data is
   collected on every incident and arrest in the Group A offense category.
   The Group A offenses are comprised of 46 specific crimes grouped in 22
   offense categories. Specific facts about these offenses are gathered
   and reported in the NIBRS system. In addition to the Group A offenses,
   eleven Group B offenses are reported with only the arrest information.
   The NIBRS system is in greater detail than the summary-based UCR
   system. As of 2004, 5,271 law enforcement agencies submitted NIBRS
   data. That amount represents 20% of the United States population and
   16% of the crime statistics data collected by the FBI.

Criticism

   The FBI has endured public criticism and internal conflict in the past
   decade. As the FBI attempts to modernize technologically to taking on a
   greater counter-terrorism role, there have been times where the FBI is
   scrutinized.

   Most of the recent controversies in the FBI have been involved with
   "terrorist" organizations or "operational" mishaps. In the early and
   late 1990s, for its role in the Ruby Ridge and Waco incidents caused an
   uproar in how tactics where handled. During the 1996 Summer Olympics in
   Atlanta, Georgia, the FBI was also criticized for its investigation on
   the Centennial Olympic Park bombing. It has recently settled a dispute
   with Richard Jewell along with the media organizations, who was a
   private security guard at the venue, from leaking his name during the
   investigation. In the 1990s, it turned out that the fingerprint unit of
   the FBI's crime lab had repeatedly done shoddy work. In some cases, the
   technicians, given evidence that actually cleared a suspect, reported
   instead that it proved the suspect guilty. Many cases had to be
   reopened when this pattern of errors was discovered.

   In 2000, the FBI began the Trilogy project to upgrade its outdated IT
   infrastructure. This project, originally scheduled to take three years
   and cost around $380 million, ended up going far over budget and behind
   schedule. Efforts to deploy modern computers and networking equipment
   were generally successful, but attempts to develop new investigation
   software, outsourced to SAIC, were a disaster. Virtual Case File, or
   VCF, as the software was known, was plagued by poorly defined goals,
   and repeated changes in management. In January 2005, more than two
   years after the software was originally planned for completion, the FBI
   officially abandoned the project. At least $100 million (and much more
   by some estimates) was spent on the project, which was never
   operational. The FBI has been forced to continue using its decade-old
   Automated Case Support system, which is considered woefully inadequate
   by IT experts. In March 2005, the FBI announced it is beginning a new,
   more ambitious software project code-named Sentinel expected for
   completion by 2009.

   In February 2001, Robert Hanssen was caught selling information to the
   Russians. It was later learned that Hanssen, who had reached a high
   position within the FBI, had been selling intelligence since as early
   as 1979. He pleaded guilty to treason and received a life sentence in
   2002, but the incident led many to question the security practices
   employed by the FBI. There was also a claim that Robert Hanssen might
   have contributed information that led to the September 11, 2001
   attacks.

   The 9/11 Commission's final report on July 22, 2004 stated that the FBI
   and CIA were both partially to blame for not pursuing intelligence
   reports which could have prevented the September 11, 2001 attacks. In
   its most condemning assessment, the report concluded that the country
   had "not been well served" by either agency and listed numerous
   recommendations for changes within the FBI. While the FBI has acceded
   to most of the recommendations, including oversight by the new Director
   of National Intelligence, some former members of the 9/11 Commission
   publicly criticized the FBI in October 2005, claiming it was resisting
   any meaningful changes.

   Retrieved from "
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Bureau_of_Investigation"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
