Asks Local Agencies to Help
The FBI is spending less time investigating drug cases, bank robberies and white-collar crime because of the war on terrorism, the agency’s director told hundreds of police officers at a law enforcement conference Wednesday.
The possibility exists that the numbers of these types of crimes will increase as criminals continue to witness resources being shifted towards counter-terrorism work.
FBI Director Robert Mueller said agents have been pulled from other cases to concentrate on the bureau’s counterterrorism work. He says other law enforcement agencies must pick up the slack.
“We understand that there are some of these cases we no longer will be able to do, and that the slack has to be pulled by others, and we hope to do that in concert with you,” Mueller said. “Where we’re unable to do a particular type of case that we’ve done in the past, we want to give you all the support we can.”
In the cases of bank robberies, for example, “where in a particular city bank robberies are a problem, we should be there addressing that in the form of a task force,” Mueller said.
Pulling back from traditional FBI investigations is a concern to the bureau, the Bush administration and Congress, said Cincinnati FBI agent Kevin Brock.
“As we find our level of investigation in the counterterrorism world, I think Congress is going to do the right thing, the administration is going to do the right thing, and the American people can be confident that the bureau will be funded and resourced to where it needs to be,” Brock said.
Attorney General Jim Petro said he hasn’t noticed the effects of the FBI’s withdrawal from certain cases.
“Our experience is we have support from the FBI whenever called upon,” Petro said. “Obviously, when there’s federal crimes committed, they do work on it.”
Source: PoliceOne; AP; FBI; Ohio Attorney General