FBI

History of the Federal Bureau of Investigation

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, or the FBI, is an agency of the U.S. Department of Justice that works both to investigate federal crimes and act as an internal intelligence agency. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has been assigned jurisdiction to investigate different violations of the federal law.

Prior to 1886, there was no need for Federal enforcement of interstate law. Many years after the Interstate Commerce Act that was passed in 1887, Charles Joseph Bonaparte, the Attorney General, worked to create a formal Bureau of Investigation. The organization started out with 12 Secret Service agents but quickly grew during the Roosevelt administration, who gave them their first official tasks. The organization was then renamed the U.S. Bureau of Investigation in 1932.

It was initially linked to the Bureau of Prohibition, but later became an independent agency within the department of justice in 1935 where it was again renamed to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The J. Edgar Hoover Building, which is the Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters, is in Washington, D.C Meanwhile there are 56 field offices in different major cities of the United States along with over 400 different resident agencies in other smaller towns and cities nationally. Furthermore there are also over 50 legal attaches to U.S. embassies where international offices are placed.

Priorities of the Federal Bureau of Investigation

The Federal Bureau of Investigation focuses on any threats that compromise the foundations of society in the United States or any dangers that are too complex or large for state or local authority.

Some of the objectives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation include:

• Protecting the United States from terrorist attacks, espionage, foreign intelligence operations, high-technology crimes, and cyber-based attacks.

• Protecting the civil rights of citizens

• Fighting public corruption at all levels

• Combat national and international criminal organizations

• Fighting significant violent crime and white collar crime

• Supporting the local, state, and federal partners along with international partners

Due to Title 28 Section 533 of the U.S. Code gives the Federal Bureau of Investigations authority as well as other federal statutes that say the agency has that authority. Some of this authority was set as precedent in the Supreme Court decision in 127 that said that the agency had the right to use wiretaps without it being considered a violation of the fourth amendment.

Many other acts have been passed that give the Federal Bureau of Investigations more authority:

• Racketeer Influenced & Corrupt Organizations Act in 1970 to be used against organized crime

• Civil Rights Act of 1964: the agency was responsible for enforcing compliance with the act in the United States

• Controlled Substances Act of 1970: the Federal Bureau of Investigations & the Drug Enforcement Administration have jurisdiction in this act

• USA PATRIOT Act: also the GBI to monitor internet activity, perform wiretaps, and look at library records

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