Is The FBI A "Shadow Of Its Former Self"?

As FBI Focus Shifts From Crime To Terrorism, Fewer Cases Are Referred To Justice Dept.

(AP)  The FBI is a shadow of its former crime-busting self, submitting nearly 40 percent fewer criminal investigations to the Justice Department for possible prosecution than it did two decades ago.

The decline is mostly the result of the bureau's heavy focus on terrorism investigations in recent years.

The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on U.S. soil changed the FBI's focus, but other agencies that are heavily engaged in white-collar criminal investigations are showing similar changes, says the study by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a private group at Syracuse University.

A top FBI official said the agency's new emphasis on stopping terrorists was necessary - and effective.

"To say the FBI is a shadow of its former self is to ask the question: What do you get for shifting FBI agents to the national security mission?" said John Miller, an assistant FBI director. "If the answer is going 6 1/2 years without a successful attack by terrorists on U.S. soil, then I think it's a win."

The flip side to the declines is the soaring number of immigration investigations, which now account for more than a quarter of all criminal referrals to the Justice Department, according to TRAC.

Last year, 41,600 immigration cases went to the Justice Department for possible prosecution, more than double the figure from 2001. The latest figure is four times the number of two decades ago.

At the FBI, the bureau accounts for less than one of every six case files referred to the Justice Department for possible prosecution. Twenty years ago, it was more than one out of every three, says TRAC, which based its findings on the government's own data. TRAC obtained the data under the Freedom of Information Act.

"We're doing fewer low-end fraud and drug cases, the easy lay-ups," said Miller, the FBI official. "At the same time hundreds of agents worked on Enron, HealthSouth, Qwest. Another priority, complex public corruption cases, may take two years, but the result is an achievement that transcends arrest numbers."

Other federal law enforcement agencies that are seeing dramatic declines in referrals include the Secret Service, Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said "there is no question about the importance of the FBI's work in fighting terrorism. But we must be mindful of the traditional and critical role the Bureau plays in domestic law enforcement, and we must reverse the trend of shifting important resources away from investigating violent crime and white collar crime."

The federal data that TRAC collected from the Justice Department's Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys states that:

-The FBI made 25,100 criminal referrals last year, compared to 41,300 in 1987.

-Last year, the FBI made 2,300 referrals to the Justice Department in white-collar investigations, an 82 percent decline from 2001. White-collar referrals peaked at 20,900 in 1993, the year of the first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York.

-At the Secret Service, the agency sent 12,200 investigations to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution in 1987. Now it's 5,100.

-At the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the referral number was 6,600 two decades ago, in contrast to 5,100 now.

-At the Internal Revenue Service, the 1987 referral figure was 3,300. Now it's 2,600.

The agencies with declines say that it takes time to conduct complex criminal investigations in the Internet age against technically sophisticated targets.

A tax investigation takes an average of 507 days and "we've been tackling a higher proportion of cases that take longer," says Victor Song, the IRS deputy chief for criminal investigations.

The anthrax attacks of 2001 prompted the U.S. Postal Inspection Service to strengthen its focus in the security arena, but "we have not shifted resources" away from other investigations, said Douglas Bem, a spokesman for the service.

"Many of our cases are prosecuted at the state and local level when it's more appropriate rather than through the federal judicial system," said Bem. "We work at all levels, not only with U.S. attorneys."

Investigations involving cyber crimes, especially network intrusions, are much more complex than the investigations of 20 years ago and cases are often global in scope and tend to be longer running, says Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan.

[inventagod]

Gee -
I wonder if the FBI
EVER
really
questioned
DlCK CHENEY
about
9/11
?
?
?

[zootallures2]

Looking at and listening to their doctored up 9/11 videos, I''d say they should all come to work on the short bus.

[Wookiee-1138]

That''s a good thing. The founder was an exemplary crooked cop. It''s about time they started moving away from that.

[watcher269-2009]

With all the other agencies like the NSA, CIA, DIA, NRO, DOO etc........ that are conducting Illegal surveillance in the United States - WHY does the FBI need to be involved?

What? The other agencies can''t do it because they are military and the FBI are the only ones with "Brains"? Well - the FBI are all Lawyers so what the FU*CK to they know about terrorists?

Let the Military handle the Terrorists and let the FBI do what it was born to do under Hoover - and spy on Americans for no reason - except to get naked pictures of actresses like Marilyn Monroe and concoct stories about innocent people to put them in jail like with McCarthyism.

[hungry1968]

Gee -
I wonder if the FBI
EVER
really
questioned
DlCK CHENEY
about
9/11
?
?
?

Posted by Inventagod at 12:49 AM : Mar 07, 2008




Or his "top secret" energy meetings, or the no bid contracts with Haliburton, or his ties to the Saudi royal family, or his role in the 2003 Iraq invasion, or.......

[random_radar]

All government agencies are shifting their focus from protecting the public to protecting the government. It is the "circle the wagons" mentality on a massive scale.

The government is like a wounded animal backed into to a corner and ready to lash out at anyone it perceives to be a threat--real or imaginary. Basically our government officials are showing signs of paranoid delusions and see a terrorist out to get them behind every tree and lamppost.

Woe be unto anyone--U. S. citizen or foreigner--who gives the slightest appearance of suspicious behavior. Government officials are looking for victims they can tar as a terrorist to reinforce their psychotic view of the world. Little voices in their heads tell them everyone is out to get them.

Oh, brave new world!

[matter77]

Yeah...and why won''t anyone investigate the big red button under GW''s desk in the Oval Office that he pushes to cause tsunamis in Indonesia! I know a guy that knows someone who saw it! And how come cattle mutilations increased every time *** Cheney used the word "Iraq"? It''s because he died during that operation and they didn''t want anyone to know, so they used a holographic image at the press conference that was electronically infiltrated by disgruntled researchers at Los Alamos! Wake up people!

[singingrick]

The Bush administrations focus of moving loyal cronies up to the top of every federal agency has decimated our government and justice system.

[pzabbie]

watcher,
You speak of sh** from 50 years ago! The fact remains that the F.B.I., (And other secret Organizations,) have saved your sorry a** from terrorist attacks that are commonplace in other parts of the world. Granted, there is no perfect system. But for God%u2019s sake, realize this is the best show in town. I%u2019m not ready to get a bar code tattoo, but if I have to get to the Airport 3 hours early, or submit to a background check, to keep from getting my or my loved one%u2019s *** blown up, so be it! WAKE UP! These people want to KILL us!! They want to kill us just as badly as they did on 9/11! Freedom isn''t Free.

[jumkey]

The "national security mission"? Would that also be known as the enforcement arm of the Republican party?

Sorry, but the FBI screwed the pooch long, long ago. Their law enforcement function has (in my lifetime at least) always been just a front for their activities investigating and persecuting Americans who exercise their civil rights.

[matter77]

"investigating and persecuting Americans who exercise their civil rights" --- are you refering to Timothy McVeigh, man? Sounds like the sort of trash you''re spewing. Or maybe your bro got busted selling something and now you feel trampled.

[mediapreachr]

Have any of you seen "The Untouchables"?
The main role of this federal agency was traditional law enforcement and sooner or later it will go back to doing that.

[jumkey]

No, I''m referring to the FBI investigating and spying on legitimate political activities over the last 50 years - including the civil rights movement and it''s leaders and any number of other perfectly legal activities by American citizens.

And of course when this is pointed out and criticized, the authoritarian government lovers like yourself accuse the accusers of being aligned with terrorists. You were clearly born at the wrong time and the wrong place given your Stalinist bent.

Good example of McVeigh though. Another terrorist plot (like 9/11) that the FBI completely and totally botched and as a result dozens of Americans died. I''m left to wonder if it could have been prevented if the FBI had actually been working on stopping terrorism rather than investigating innocent Americans for political purposes. Not that they (or you for that matter) care one whit about this country or it''s citizens or the principles it was founded on, so the point is moot of course.

[jumkey]

Yes, I''ve seen "The Untouchables" mediapreachr.

They can''t "get back to that" because it''s a movie.

[neoconslayer]

pzabbie deserves neither security nor freedom.

[neoconslayer]

matter77 has never heard of Martin Luther King, Jr. (the villainous super-terrorist) and he never heard of those pink hat grannies, the one''s who tried to enlist in their 70''s so their grandsons wouldn''t have to.
Thank Almighty GOD that the FBI investigated them.
I mean, the audacity of those people to volunteer. Isn''t that how the Manson Family made the news...?
Meanwhile, "al-Qaeda may attack with hijacked airplanes" is completely ignored by, well, everybody that matter77 trusts.

[anonbene]

The FBI guy claims credit for stopping all these attempted terrorist attacks? I don''t get it? Has anyone been convicted of terrorism based on anything the FBI has done? I know the shoe bomber idiot was caught in the act but it wasn''t by any FBI guy. When will this administration including the FBI quit trying to take credit for what others do? The FBI took credit for that capture of the Atlanta bomber that was caught by a local deputy picking food out of dumpster. Why do you people think we are stupid? We''re not. The great and powerful FBI didn''t stop 9/11 neither did any other law enforcement or military arm of the government but they take all kinds of credit for it not happening again and I say the reason it didn''t happen again is the terrorists didn''t even try. With what 20 million illegal immigrants here you would think if any terrorists wanted to blow something up it would be pretty easy just by coming in from Mexico so none of their posturing has any credibility as far as I can see. I can see this posting being Routed through CBS to Verizon to AT&T to NSA to FBI to The White House and I''ll probably be in Guantanamo Bay by dinner time. When you idiots break my door down please don''t step on the cat or break my walker OK?

[fiteit1]

Hay CBS, why can''t we comment on "Commander Warns Of Homeland Terror Threat"? Maybe because everyone knows it''s a fear mongering tactic leading up to another event Bushit and company will stage just before the election to say I told you so and declare marshal law and postpone the elections.

[trulycurious]

The FBI botched the anthrax case, and many people think that they did so deliberately because it led back to the U.S. biowarfare complex, which involves a number of U.S. government agencies and a handful of private contractors, the largest being Battelle Memorial Institute, who operates the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, Pine Ridge in Arkansas, Oak Ridge in Tennessee, and a microbiological facility in West Jefferson Ohio, among others.

The FBI was initially pursuing suspects in pharmaceutical firms who stood to benefit from new bioterrorism funding (which has indeed happened). However, that FBI team was removed and control was handed over to a new team, who settled on a "lone wolf" theory.

The FBI''s botched job on the anthrax case, followed by their focus on a suspect named Stephen Hatfill, has a lot in common with their prosecution of Wen Ho Lee over nuclear secrets.

Hatfill is now suing the FBI, and Robert Steven''s (the Florida victim) widow is suing Battelle Memorial Institute for his death. The Connecticut Postal Workers Union is also trying to find out more about the anthrax case - which the FBI is about to shut down entirely, if they haven''t already.

I mean, if you can''t even find anything out about who carried out a biowarfare attack on Congress using a high-tech powdered Ames anthrax spore preparation (traced back to U.S. army labs), you don''t have much credibility as a "anti-terror agency".

[excoachken]

The F.B.I. seems to spend much less time "uncovering" crime than they do in "covering up" for the Bush crime syndicate.

[zoopster1]

I see the usual left-wing anti-Bush crowd is in full swing as usual. Question: how exactly have YOUR lives been changed? Have you been served with arrest warrants based on anonymous accusations? Has anyone in your family been picked up from work or school and interrogated by FBI agents without cause? Have you been awakened at 3 in the morning by uniformed FBI tactical guys kicking in your door and hauling you away?? How exactly has Bush and Co. messed up your lives so bad that you make asinine accusations against him and our government, such as comparing them to the NAZIS????

Come on people, get a grip. Bush will be GONE in a few more months, and another equally ineffective president will be sworn in. Congress will continue to get nothing done, and the vast majority of our nation''s riches will be spent defending us from people who just want to come over here, kill themselves, and hopefully take as many of us with them as possible. Their reasons for this are legion, and they existed long before we ever thought about doing the Middle East a favor by kicking out Saddam.

And, incidentally, "The Untouchables" is completely irrelevant to this article. Prohibition enforcement was under the umbrella of the Treasury Dept, not the FBI.

[walt1944-2009]

Alas, there are those who feel that since Mulder and Scully left the FBI''s "X Files" some years ago, that the entire department has lost its direction and, as the saying goes, "does not know its "arse" from a hole in the ground"!

That is why those who bombed the NYC recruiting office several days ago, will probably never be caught, why identity theft is totally beyond them, and why Jimmy Hoffa will never be found.

SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!!
sig heil, McCain????

[zoopster1]

Once again, it amazes me. I find it unlikely that too many people who were actually inmates at places like Auchwitz, Berkenau, Treblinka, etc; people who saw true evil and in many cases looked it right in the eye, would agree that any US politician could be compared to the Nazis. Now or ever. Yet people who are so far out on the left wing fringe that Nikita Khrushchev was a member of the John Birch society by comparison continue to liken members of our government to that regime. That is out of bounds, guys, seriously.

Let''s get something straight. Bush and his cronies are many things: foolish, incompetent. They arose from privilege, born with a silver spoon in their mouths. They owe their positions to knowing (and sucking up to) the right people at the right time. But to compare them to a highly efficient and brutal system built for world conquest, and the orderly disposal of the state''s enemies gives them WAY too much credit. People of Bush''s ilk come from the corridors of the corporate world; people who got where they are because they were the best at dodging responsibility, and pinning blame for their mistakes on less important people too slow or dumb to move out of the way. There are a lot of things unethical about that, true. But hardly anything sinister. So do your credibility a favor and refrain from making those comparisons please.

[zoopster1]

Lastdance, I will spend some time looking up this vast number of hysterical accusations you make, to verify whether or not any are true. However, what you imply is that the son is automatically guilty of the sins committed by the father. Is that correct? If so, what makes you any different from those you accuse? How are you protecting my interests by making these claims? Have you gone to the Library Of Congress or the National Archives yourself, to verify these quite serious accusations? Do you think the evidence will stand up in a US court of law?

If so, lets get the necessary materials together, hire some lawyers, and go try to prove it to a jury. I''m game. It''s obviously very important to you. But I maintain that you diminish the Nazis by comparing them with a bunch of bungling, corrupt weasels like the Bush bunch.

[zoopster1]

"The National Archives or The Library of Congress :
Government documents in the National Archives and Library of Congress reveal that
Prescott Bush, the grandfather of President George W. Bush, Served as a business partner
of and U.S. Banking Operative for the Financial Architect of the Nazi war machine from
1926 until 1942,"
Your story already starts to unravel. Hitler did not come to power until 1933. There was no "Nazi war machine" prior to then, and it wasn''t until late that year that General Heinz Guderian was in a position to push the concept of Blitzkrieg. The United States was a neutral party that maintained diplomatic ties with the Hitler regime, in spite of its war of aggression, until December 11, 1941 when Germany honored the Tripartite Pact by declaring war on us after we declared war on Japan. After that, all US companies had to sever ties with companies that were tied to the Nazi regime.

You might want to try a real history book, and stay away from those conspiracy theory websites. Just because it''s on the Net doesn''t make it true. And incidentally, American hero Charles Lindbergh was a Nazi apologist who had to eat his words when the death camps were discovered. Does that make him evil too? Does that mean his son, who was kidnapped and killed, deserved to die?

[standlee5]

I hope the FBI is investigating along with the IRS the outrageous disregard for labor law.

[standlee5]

IS the IRS going to go after these employers who pay illegal labor with 1099''s. Then the illegal aliens who claim they have a "business". Don''t pay payroll taxes, don''t pay self employment taxes, aren''t licensed and bonded. Those of us who run legitamate businesses have been s.crewed by the govt. particularly local govts. that require us to play by the rules but give a free pass to illegals. Living in a santuary state with a governor who caters to Mexico''s president.

[zoopster1]

Just what does that mean? NAFTA stands for North American Free Trade Agreement, and covers trade between states in the Western Hemisphere. Yet it is a proven fact that most forced child labor and slavery takes place in Asia, which is in fact not a member of the NAFTA accord.

So... your point again?

[zoopster1]

"Slave Labor and Child Forced Slave Labor was common place in the death camps
Inmates were used as - S*e*x Slaves
Children were used as : Child S*e*x* Slaves"

That did not happen all that often. Nazi officers found guilty of taking to bed with a Jew were subject to loss of commission and imprisonment. German soldiers found guilty of same were shot. So that wasn''t part of the system, and was in fact strongly discouraged by it.

[andyli1004]

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