globalintelhub | For those who are not drooling on their lazy-boy high on Prozac and
Lays (both strong brands) know that the world is not as seen on TV. But
even in TV, on shows such as “White Collar” – the strange relationship
between the ‘police’ and the ‘bandits’ can be seen and understood. The
differences in many cases between a career Special Agent and cat burglar
can be thin circumstantial nuances; and they often ‘flip’ sides, most
notably in the case we all know about Frank Abagnale,
now a successful security and fraud consultant, working with the FBI to
detect serious financial fraud. Let’s take a step back for a moment;
the “FBI” hires mostly accountants, and they pursue a number of crimes
but most notably financial fraud. They serve as the police for the
CFTC, the SEC, for extreme enforcement actions, as well as investigating
a number of issues – from their website:
Our Priorities
Protect the United States from terrorist attack
Protect the United States against foreign intelligence operations and espionage
Protect the United States against cyber-based attacks and high-technology crimes
Combat public corruption at all levels
Protect civil rights
Combat transnational/national criminal organizations and enterprises
Combat major white-collar crime
Combat significant violent crime
Our People & Leadership
The FBI employs 35,000 people, including special agents and support professionals such as intelligence analysts, language specialists, scientists, and information technology specialists. Learn how you can join us at FBIJobs.gov. For details on our executives and organizational structure, see our Leadership & Structure webpage.
What should stick out to readers in an environment where a
potentially politicized and corrupt FBI (at least, the leadership) is
the “Combat public corruption at all levels” – and going back to the age
old regulatory paradox, ‘who watches the watchers’ let’s take a look at
the old dog who made the FBI what it is today; J. Edgar Hoover.
In case you have not, and are interested in this topic, take a weekend and read this must read book about the FBI: J. Edgar Hoover: The Man and the Secrets –
why bother reading about a figure who is long gone and has no
surviving heirs? Because in order to understand where we are today,
with the situation with the FBI and Trump, we need to understand where
we came from. Certainly the FBI has transformed since 1972; however the
power, scope, size, methods, political leanings, and other elements of
the FBI still remain as established by Hoover.
Let’s dismantle some of the false images many have about the FBI.
The FBI doesn’t ‘solve crimes’ as on popular TV shows like “CSI” –
although they do have excellent forensics labs, this rarely (but
sometimes) leads to a conviction. Primarily, the FBI relies on
informants, “Confidential Informants” (CIs), tips, and ‘turning’ – a
technique popularized by Hoover and used to this day. Global Intel Hub
interviewed several anonymous sources to confirm this information.
Here’s how it works. The FBI will arrest a petty low level criminal
and get him to ‘turn’ on his boss; they will threaten him with life in
prison, maybe poke his eyes a little or something, and get him to become
a witness in court. Also they will want a full blueprint of the
organization – and in exchange they will get into the Witness Protection
Program – yes this program really exists and there are literally thousands of people in this program:
