Mission
The mission of the FBI is to uphold the law
through the investigation of violations of federal criminal law;
to protect the United States from foreign intelligence and
terrorist activities; to provide leadership and law enforcement
assistance to federal, state, local, and international agencies;
and to perform these responsibilities in a manner that is
responsive to the needs of the public and is faithful to the
United States Constitution. The Bureau's motto is "Fidelity,
Bravery, Integrity."
Information obtained through an FBI
investigation is presented to the appropriate U.S. Attorney or
DOJ official, who decides if prosecution or other action is
warranted. Top priority has been assigned to three areas:
counterterrorism, foreign counterintelligence, and cyber crime.
Present mission of the FBI
As of June 2002, the FBI's official top
priority is counterterrorism. The second priority is
counterintelligence. The USA PATRIOT Act granted the FBI
increased powers, 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 it suspected
of terrorism, something it had supposedly not done since the
1970s.
The bureau 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 DEA
in the enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970.
History of the FBI
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.
Under J. Edgar Hoover, who became director of
the Bureau on May 10, 1924, the agency spent much of its energy
investigating political activists who were not accused of any
crime (e.g., Albert Einstein as a socialist).
The FBI Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory
(better known as the FBI Crime Lab) officially opened on
November 24, 1932.
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 1920's.
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.
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.
During the 1950s and 1960s, 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 (LA Times, March 8, 2006, archived at:
www.commondreams.org/views06/0308-27.htm). 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. In his 1991 memoirs,
Washington Post journalist Carl Rowan asserted that the FBI had
sent at least one anonymous letter to King encouraging him to
commit suicide.
