FBI - Federal Bureau of Investigation

FBI

Federal Bureau of Investigation

What is the FBI ?

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is the most important arm of the United States Department of Justice. The FBI is also authorised to provide other law organisations with cooperative services, such as fingerprint identification, laboratory examinations, and police training.

The Mission

The mission of the FBI is

• to uphold the law through the investigation of violations of criminal law,

• to protect the United States from foreign intelligence and terrorist activities and

• to provide leadership and law enforcement assistance to federal, state, local and international agencies.

The History

The FBI was founded in 1908 when attorney general Charles J. Bonapart appointed an unnamed force of special agents. By order of attorney general George W. Wickersham, the special agent force was named the Bureau of Investigation in 1909. After series of changes in name, the Federal Bureau of Investigation officially received its present title in 1935.

During the early period of the FBI´s history, its agents investigated criminal violations like bankruptcy frauds, antitrust crime and neutrality violations. During World War I, the Bureau was given responsibility for espionage and sabotage. In 1934 the Congress gave special agents the authority to make arrests and to carry firearms.

During the World War II the size of the FBI increased greatly. With the end of that war and the beginning of the atomic age, the FBI began to lead security investigations for the White House and other government agencies.

Civil rights and organised crime became major tasks of the FBI in the 1960s.

The Organisation

The FBI is a field-oriented organisation. Its headquarter is in Washington, D.C.. There are 55 field offices in the United States, and one in Puerto Rico. The locations were selected according to crime trends and the need to efficiently manage resources.

The FBI is headed by a director, who is supported by a deputy director. Since September 1993 Louis J. Freeh has been the director of the FBI.

The FBI has approximately 11,500 special agents and 16,300 other employees for technical, clerical or other maintenance operations. About 8,700 employees are assigned to the headquarter.

The FBI´s budget for 1997 was $2,837,610,000.

Qualifications for a special agent

To qualify for training as a special agent, the person must be a U. S. citizen, or a citizen of the northern Mariana islands and have reached its 23^rd but not 37^th birthday. Candidates must be completely available for assignment anywhere in the FBI´s 56 field offices. They must have a driving license and must pass a drug test and a colour vision test.

Candidates must have obtained a four-year resident program at one of different special colleges or universities.

The training of a special agent

The training consists of 15 weeks of intensive instruction at the FBI Academy in Virginia. The program consists of 654 hours in the categories of academics, firearms, physical training, defensive tactics and practical exercises.

After graduating from the FBI academy, special agents have “on-the-job-training” for two years.

Throughout their careers, special agents attend service seminars to enhance their knowledge.