Abstract

The FBI was created more than a century ago, in an America that was greatly different than the one it operates in today.  Since its creation the FBI has been the primary agency for investigation and prevention of federal crimes, and it has used innovative technology and tactics to accomplish this goal.  The FBI has a number of famous cases stemming from its wars against organized crime and domestic terrorism, and its shifting role in society has caused it to branch into several different divisions.  It is this flexibility of the agency, and its willingness to take on new challenges, that has allowed it to overcome problems and to remain a relatively stable force in law enforcement.

Key Words: FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, Gangsters, Ruby Ridge

 

The FBI Has a Long and Storied History

Ever since its founding, the FBI has had a turbulent history

 

            The FBI is an important organization in American law enforcement and counter terrorism.  The FBI has developed a number of new missions and divisions throughout its hundred year history, but it has remained at the forefront of federal criminal investigation.  Both the history and the function of the FBI are important to getting a idea of the agency’s legacy and purpose.

            The FBI was founded in 1908 under the authority of Teddy Roosevelt.  Roosevelt had made reform of national law enforcement a key issue in his political campaign, and he intended the FBI to be a qualified law enforcement body that wasn’t beholden to any political machine.  The FBI began as a loose coalition of skilled ex detectives and investigators, as the federal government had, prior to 1908, relied on private detectives to investigate federal crimes.  In 1910, this new agency of detectives was made a permanent part of the Justice Department. According to the FBI’s website (2010) the early FBI found few federal crimes to investigate in into first decades of its existence, but the entrance of the United States into World War One gave the FBI a new set of responsibilities enforcing the Espionage and Selective Service acts. 

            The FBI calls the 20s and 30s the lawless years because of the difficulty enforcing the widely flouted Prohibition laws.  According to the FBI (2010), a criminal such as Al Capone would be prosecuted as a “fugitive federal witness.”  The FBI went after the leaders of the KKK for violating federal electoral laws as well.  Perhaps most important to the trajectory of the FBI was the appointment of J. Edgar Hoover to the directorship of the agency.  Hoover presided over explosive growth to the FBI and the expansion of its field offices all over the country.  The FBI stepped up its public relations campaign to convince the public of its importance, and it created a national repository for evidence used in criminal investigations.

            After killing or imprisoning all of the major crime bosses throughout the thirties, the FBI found itself in a reprisal of its earlier role as a supporter of the government war effort during World War Two.    The FBI combated the perceived rise of fascism and communism in America by a repression of activities seen as Anti-American.  In addition, the FBI organized anti-espionage and anti-sabotage teams including the discovery and uncovering of a German spy ring in the American heartland.

            After the war, in the shadow of nuclear proliferation, the FBI joined the Cold War with enthusiasm.  According to the FBI (2010) “Americans feared Communist expansion was not limited to Europe” so the FBI attempted to counteract the communist infiltration spurned by the passionate leadership of J. Edgar Hoover at all levels.  In addition, the FBI investigated major Civil Rights cases such as the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.  and  then became the first federal agency to investigate the assassination of a president after Kennedy was shot.

            The FBI (2010) gives itself the credit for ending the New Left’s use of violence as a tool of political demonstration and resistance during the sixties.  The FBI claims that it was its investigation of the University of Wisconsin bombing and the Kent State massacre that showed it was an impartial investigative body out only to further justice.  The FBI also claims that Hoover had discouraged wiretapping and surveillance of domestic groups except in clear instances of domestic emergency, and so it was a surprise to the agency when the Watergate break-ins were tied to the acting director of the FBI after Hoover’s death, Patrick Gray.

            Watergate caused Attorney General Edward Levi to instruct FBI officials in a series of guidelines that limited their use of foreign and domestic counterintelligence operations.  The FBI grew and diversified in the 1970s, and then took on a counter terrorism role in the 80s after a growth in international espionage and terrorism.  The FBI expanded their jurisdiction to include foreign countries when pursuing terror suspects, and the Hostage Rescue Team was created to deal with possible scenarios such as the Munich Olympic kidnappings. 

            In recent years the FBI has focused on the prevention of violent crime and gang related incidents, as well as in creating a national database of fingerprints and perpetrator files that make it easier for local law enforcement to determine whether or not an individual is wanted in another state or on a federal charge.  After the terrorist attacks of September 11th, the FBI has become much more of a national security agency than ever before, with a new focus on preventing terror attacks and in waging a war against cyber sabotage. 

            The FBI is currently part of the United States Justice Department and is overseen by the Inspector General.  There are 56 FBI field offices distributed across major urban centers, and 400 smaller agencies that close gaps in nationwide coverage.  The FBI employs more than 30,000 people, and according to Grabianowski (2006) it has access to a total budget of $4.3 billion.  The FBI is split into divisions that each have a specific function related to the overall purpose of the FBI.  Agencies such as the Behavioral Analysis Unit lend their services to local law enforcement agencies to make their crime solving more efficient.  Grabianowski (2006) claims that the Behavioral Analysis Unit is the organization that popularized the phrase “profiling” which is a the charting of psychological tells in a criminal’s personality.

            Since the 1950s the FBI has kept a list of its most wanted fugitives in the public eye to help with their capture.  Layton, 2006, says that the FBI has caught 94 % of all the fugitives featured on this list of which 30% were captured due to someone recognizing the image.  Every field office has some say in who gets to be on the Most Wanted List, and they write up profiles of their top two or three fugitives for possible inclusion.  The person must be a danger to their community and the case must be expected to benefit from the increased public exposure.  The Criminal Investigative Division in Washington DC gets the final say on who makes the list, and fugitives remain on the list until they are caught or the charges against them are dropped. 

            The FBI has investigated hundreds of famous cases that would be familiar to almost any American.  They have gone after Al Capone, Bonnie and Clyde, John Dillinger, and Machine Gun Kelly.  They investigated the Pan Am 103 bombing, the Jonestown massacre, the Oklahoma City Bombing, and the Pearl Harbor Spy.  Currently the FBI is conducting investigations into terrorism suspects, including the number one most wanted fugitive, Bin Laden.

            Joining the FBI requires a battery of physical tests and a number of educational requirements before an applicant is even considered.  The applicant must be between the ages of 23 and 37 and in superb physical fitness as measured by the FBI’s physical fitness test.  In addition, each applicant must posses a four year degree and three years of work experience in a field that the FBI considers mission critical.  Depending on the needs of the agency, they often hire foreign language, accounting, IT, and criminal justice majors.  In an article on FBI employment, Puja Lalwani (2010) stated that FBI agents are expected to be the stewards of sensitive information, so the FBI runs background checks and cedit checks on the applicant and close connections.  A failed credit check could imply that a candidate is not trustworthy with sensitive material as they need money bad enough to possible steal and sell the information.

            FBI training for new recruits takes place at the FBI academy in Quantico, Virginia.  The FBI Academy is esteemed in law enforcement circles as being a rigorous and complete system for developing good judgment and skills in new agents.  The FBI Academy is located on the Quantico Marine Corps base and it houses a number of agencies in addition to its training staff.  The Academy has a library with past case files and government documents, the Counter-terrorism research facility, and the Behavioral Research labs.  For training new agents, the Academy contains a simulated town called Hogan’s Alley which includes buildings and roads for agents to practice their firearms and driving skills.

            Of course, as for any agency that has existed for more than a hundred years, the FBI has attracted its share of criticism.  The FBI has had to re-examine the cooperation between its Hostage Rescue Teams and Hostage Negotiation Teams after divisional rivalries led to Ruby Ridge disaster in 1992.  The FBI Hostage Rescue Team used snipers to take shots on the barricaded suspects before the negotiations were complete, leading to the death of the mother of the Weaver family and the eventual public relations nightmare that Ruby Ridge became.  The FBI has also taken criticism for the often repressive role it played during the Cold War, silencing political opposition in the name of anti-communism.  More recently, concern has arisen among privacy watchdogs over the FBI’s ability to monitor online communication of American citizens without having to apply for a federal warrant.

            So what will the future of the FBI hold?  It is likely that the FBI will continue to focus more and more on counter-terrorism as public attention on domestic terrorism (such as the Fort Hood shootings) has increased.  In addition, the FBI must clarify, in cooperation with the Obama administration exactly what its powers and responsibilities regarding information collection are under the Patriot Act.  Can the FBI circumvent the federal warrant process by arguing that national security demands a swift response?  Will privacy advocates force the FBI to adopt a more restrictive position on wire tapping and email snooping?  If the history of the FBI has been any indication, the FBI has always been a flexible agency that has had to adapt to a changing environment.

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 References:

Federal Bureau of Investigation. “FBI History.” U.S. Department of Justice.  <http://www.fbi.gov/fbihistory.htm> 30 July 2010

 

Grabianowski, Ed. “How the FBI Works.”  22 May 2006.  HowStuffWorks.com. <http://www.howstuffworks.com/fbi.htm>  31 July 2010.

 

Layton, Julia. “How does the FBI decide who makes the Most Wanted List.”  30 August 2006. HowStuffWorks.com. <http://www.howstuffworks.com/fbi-most-wanted.htm>  31 July 2010.

 

Federal Bureau of Investigation. “Famous Cases .” U.S. Department of Justice. <http://www.fbi.gov/libref/historic/famcases/famcases.htm > 30 July 2010

 

Yost, Pete. “FBI Access to Email and Web Record Raise Fears.”  30 July 2006.  Associated Press <http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i0sSrz0kpYsh74POan5bm3nu-53wD9H980381 >  31 July 2010