The Federal Bureau of Investigation

Ø 1) Look through the text and make a supposition which category of readers this text will be interesting for. Prove your supposition.

Ø 2) Name the paragraphs which give answers to these questions:

a) Where is the headquarters of the FBI located?

b) What is the main goal of the FBI?

c) What are the requirements to the applicants for an FBI agent?

d) How are the FBI agents trained?

e) Who is director of FBI?

f) Since what time did he start reporting to the Director of National Intelligence?

g) How many categories of crime does the FBI deal with?

h) How many branches / departments are there in the FBI?

Ø 3) What do the following verb combinations and verb forms refer to: are appointed; must be confirmed; serve; resign; are fired; is up; is responsible; makes sure; is in charge of; would brief; reports to; had to make sure?

(1) The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency. The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime. Its motto is “Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity, ” corresponding to the FBI initials.

(2) The FBI’s headquarters, the J. Edgar Hoover Building, is located in Washington, D.C. Fifty-six field offices are located in major cities throughout the United States as well as over 400 resident agencies in smaller cities and towns across the country. The FBI is organized into five functional branches and the Office of the Director, which contains most administrative offices. Each branch is managed by an Executive Assistant Director. Each office and division within the branch is managed by an Assistant Director. More than 50 international offices called “legal attaché s” are in U.S. embassies worldwide.

(3) The FBI was established in 1908 as the Bureau of Investigation (BOI), complete with its own staff of special agents. The Secret Service provided the Department of Justice 12 Special Agents and these agents became the first agents in the new BOI. Its first official task was visiting and making surveys of the houses of prostitution in preparation for enforcing the “White Slave Traffic Act.” The Director of the BOI, J. Edgar Hoover, became the first FBI Director and served for 48 years. After Hoover’s death, legislation was passed limiting the tenure of future FBI Directors to a maximum of ten years.

(4) The FBI’s main goal is to protect and defend the United States against terrorist and foreign intelligence threats, to uphold and enforce the criminal laws of the United States, and to provide leadership and criminal justice services to federal, state, municipal, and international agencies and partners. The following offences are classified by the FBI as violent crimes, defined as offences involving force or the threat of force: murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. The following offences are considered property crimes: burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson.

(5) FBI Directors are appointed by the President of the United States. They must be confirmed by the United States Senate and serve ten-year terms unless they resign or are fired by the President before their term is up. The FBI director is responsible for the day-to-day operations at the FBI. Along with his deputies, the director makes sure cases and operations are handled correctly. The director also is in charge of making sure the leadership in any one of the FBI field offices are manned with qualified agents. Before the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act was passed in the wake of the September 11 attacks, the FBI director would brief the President of the United States on any issues that arise from within the FBI. Since then, the director now reports to the Director of National Intelligence who in turn reports to the President. The FBI Directors had to make sure the FBI got as much training as needed.

(6) In order to apply to become an FBI agent, an applicant must be between the ages of 23 and 37. The applicant must also hold American citizenship, have a clean record, and hold a four-year bachelor’s degree. All FBI employees require a Top Secret security clearance, and in many instances, employees need a higher level, a Top Secret security clearance. In order to get a security clearance, all potential FBI personnel must pass a series of Single Scope Background Investigations, which are conducted by the Office of Personnel Management. Special Agents candidates also have to pass a Physical Fitness Test that includes a 300-meter run, one-minute sit-ups, maximum push-ups, and a 2.4 km run. There is also a polygraph test personnel have to pass, with questions including possible drug use.

(7) After potential special agent candidates are cleared with a Top Secret security clearance and the Form SF-312 non-disclosure agreement is signed, they attend the FBI training facility located on Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia. Candidates spend approximately 21 weeks at the FBI Academy, where they receive over 500 classroom hours and over 1, 000 simulated law enforcement hours to train. Upon graduation, new FBI Special Agents are placed all around the country and the world, depending on their areas of expertise. Professional support staff works out of one of the many support buildings the FBI maintains. However, any Agent or Support staff member can be transferred to any location for any length of time if their skills are deemed necessary at one of the FBI field offices or one of the 400 resident agencies the FBI maintains.

Ø 4) Look through the texts you’ve already read and choose the facts on the topic “The FBI Agents.”

7.12 FBI’S INVESTIGATIONS

Ø 1) Before reading the text, exchange the information on the FBI that you have with your group mates.

Ø 2) Read the text and answer the questions:

a) Who began using wiretapping in the FBI?

b) Did the wiretaps used by the FBI violate the Fourth Amendment?

c) What does “the RICO Act” mean?

d) Is the FBI empowered to search a house while the residents are away?

e) What notorious criminals were apprehended by FBI agents during the “War on Crime”?

f) What other Federal agencies does the FBI work in conjunction with?

g) How many law enforcement agencies are there across the country?

J. Edgar Hoover began using wiretapping in the 1920s during Prohibition to arrest bootleggers. A 1927 case in which a bootlegger was caught through telephone tapping went to the United States Supreme Court, which ruled that the FBI could use wiretaps in its investigations and did not violate the Fourth Amendment as unlawful search and seizure as long as the FBI did not break in to a person’s home to complete the tapping.

In response to organized crime, on August 25, 1953, the Top Hoodlum Program was created. It asked all field offices to gather information on mobsters in their territories and to report it regularly to Washington for a centralized collection of intelligence on racketeers. After the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO Act), the FBI’s chief tool against organized crime, took effect, the FBI began investigating the former Prohibition-organized groups, which had become fronts for crime in major cities and even small towns. All of the FBI work was done undercover and from within these organizations using the provisions provided in the RICO Act and these groups were dismantled. The Bureau conducted operations against known organized crime syndicates and families, including those headed by Sam Giancana and John Gotti. The RICO Act is still used today for all organized crime and any individuals that might fall under the Act.

The USA PATRIOT Act increased the powers allotted to the FBI, 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 who are suspected of terrorism (something it had supposedly not done since the 1970s).

Information obtained through an FBI investigation is presented to the appropriate U.S. Attorney or Department of Justice official, who decides if prosecution or other action is warranted.

During the “War on Crime” of the 1930s, FBI agents apprehended or killed a number of notorious criminals who carried out kidnappings, robberies, and murders throughout the nation, including John Dillinger, “Baby Face” Nelson, Kate “Ma” Barker, Alvin “Creepy” Karpis, and George “Machine Gun” Kelly.

The FBI often works in conjunction with other Federal agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Customs and Border Protection in seaport and airport security, and the National Transportation Safety Board in investigating airplane crashes and other critical incidents. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is the only other agency with the closest amount of investigative power. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, the FBI maintains a role in most federal criminal investigations.

The Uniform Crime Reports compile data from over 17, 000 law enforcement agencies across the country. They provide detailed data regarding the volume of crimes to include arrest, clearance (or closing a case), and law enforcement officer information. The UCR focuses its data collection on violent crimes, hate crimes, and property crimes. According to the Annual Uniform Crime Report for 2006, violent crime offenses rose by 1.3%, but the number of property crime offenses decreased by 2.9% compared to 2005.

Ø 3) What events do the dates in the text refer to: 1920s, 1927, 1930s, 1953, 1970s, 2005, 2006?

Ø 4) Find the terms related to the types of crime in the text.