FBI

The Federal Bureau of Investigation serves as the main investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice. Agents pursue federal crimes that cross state lines or threaten national security. They handle everything from counterterrorism and cyber attacks to organized crime, public corruption, and civil rights violations. The agency also supplies forensic expertise, training, and intelligence support to police departments across the country and around the world.

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the FBI maintains 56 field offices in major cities, about 400 smaller resident agencies, and more than 60 legal attache posts in foreign countries. Its laboratory division sets global standards in forensic science. The organization employs roughly 37,000 people, including special agents, intelligence analysts, and professional staff. Congress funds its operations through the annual federal budget, which now exceeds 10 billion dollars.

Most Americans recognize the FBI from its famous Ten Most Wanted list, its role in high profile gangster cases of the 1930s, and its appearances in television shows and movies. The agency shaped modern law enforcement by creating national fingerprint files, a centralized crime laboratory, and the Uniform Crime Reports. At the same time its history includes periods of controversy over surveillance practices and the balance between security and civil liberties. [edit]

The FBI protects the American people and defends the Constitution of the United States. Its agents investigate federal offenses, gather intelligence on threats, and assist state, local, and tribal law enforcement partners. Current priorities include stopping terrorism, countering foreign intelligence operations, combating cybercrime, dismantling organized crime groups, and addressing public corruption and violent crime. [edit]

Attorney General Charles Bonaparte created the Bureau of Investigation on July 26, 1908. He assigned a small team of detectives to Stanley W. Finch, the chief examiner of the Department of Justice. At the time the Justice Department had no permanent investigators and had to borrow agents from the Secret Service. The new unit focused on antitrust violations, interstate commerce crimes, and land fraud cases that crossed state boundaries.

The agency received its first official name, the Bureau of Investigation, in 1909. During World War I it expanded to investigate draft dodgers and espionage. In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge appointed 29-year-old J. Edgar Hoover as director. Hoover quickly professionalized the force, ended political patronage, and introduced strict hiring standards. He created a national fingerprint repository, opened the first technical laboratory in 1932, and established a training academy.

Congress officially renamed the organization the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1935. That same decade the FBI waged its famous war on crime, tracking down bank robbers and gangsters such as John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, and Machine Gun Kelly. After World War II the agency turned much of its attention to counterespionage during the Cold War. The 1960s and 1970s brought new responsibilities in civil rights cases alongside the controversial COINTELPRO program that targeted domestic political groups.

The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks prompted the largest reorganization in FBI history. The agency created a National Security Branch, placed greater emphasis on intelligence sharing, and strengthened its counterterrorism capabilities. Today the FBI balances traditional law enforcement with prevention of cyber attacks, foreign election interference, and domestic extremism. [edit]