What is the FBI responsible for?

Because the FBI's mission continues to evolve and has such a wide scope, it has developed many different divisions to process information and handle incidents. A few of these include the Criminal Justice Information Services Division (CJIS), the Laboratory Division (or "Crime Lab"), the Behavioral Analysis Unit and the Hostage Rescue Team. Let's look at each of these divisions in detail.

The Criminal Justice Information Services Division (CJIS) is the largest division within the FBI. This makes sense because the collection, analysis and comparison of crime scene data is some of the FBI's most important work. The CJIS comprises several programs, including the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS). The IAFIS contains the fingerprints of more than 47 million subjects and is the largest database of its kind in the world. The CJIS also includes the National Crime Information Center (NCIC). It stores detailed information on crimes committed across the United States, regardless of which organization originally investigated the crime. Law enforcement agencies at the national, state and local levels can access both the IAFIS and the information contained in the NCIC, helping them identify criminals who may move from place to place by spotting patterns and similarities between crimes.

Law enforcement agencies can also use the services of the Laboratory Division. As one of the largest forensic laboratories in the world, the FBI Crime Lab has conducted more than one million forensic examinations and pioneers new techniques in forensic analysis. The laboratory conducts forensic investigations on all types of physical evidence, including DNA, blood, hair, fibers, latent fingerprints, documents, handwriting and firearms. Law enforcement agencies can also receive training from the Lab's Forensic Science Research and Training Center (FSRTC) at the FBI Academy. Laboratory examiners provide expert testimony in court cases that deal with forensic evidence.

The FBI has been a pioneer in the technique of criminal investigative analysis (sometimes called "profiling"), conducted by the staff of the Behavioral Analysis Unit. According to the division's Web site, criminal investigative analysis "is a process of reviewing crimes from both a behavioral and investigative perspective." Trained profilers look at the evidence and circumstances surrounding a crime or series of crimes and create a profile that describes various aspects of the suspect's personality. Gender, age, level of education, types of jobs and other elements can narrow investigations and help agents prioritize leads. Geographical profiling helps as well -- in this technique, profilers feed information about the locations of crimes into a computer, which creates an "area of interest" for investigators to focus on [ref]. Profilers require about a year of in-depth training, and an academic background in psychology or another social science is helpful. However, the most important trait of an FBI profiler is extensive experience working on investigations.

The FBI also has one of the top hostage rescue teams in the world -- the Hostage Rescue Team, a part of the Tactical Support Branch of the Critical Incident Response Group. Initially, the HRT was a tactical rescue unit outfitted like a SWAT team. Their job was to end a hostage situation with the use of force. The Hostage Negotiation Unit was separate, and was supposed to try resolving hostage situations peacefully before the HRT went in. An adversarial relationship grew between the two units, culminating in the controversial Ruby Ridge incident. In 1992, U.S. Marshalls were in a standoff with a heavily armed family in rural Idaho. The FBI went in, but the HRT acted contrary to advice from experienced negotiators and ordered snipers to fire on the family before the negotiators had a chance to end things peacefully. Snipers killed the mother of the family [ref]. In response to this and other incidents, the FBI created the Critical Incident Response Group, which combines the Crisis Negotiation Unit and the HRT into a single group with a single commander.

Following September 11, 2001, FBI Director Robert Mueller ordered operational and organizational changes to support changes in the FBI's focus: "prevention of terrorist attacks, countering foreign intelligence operations against the U.S., and addressing cybercrime-based attacks and other high-technology crimes" [ref]. The organization is also working on technological upgrades to meet these changes and provide stronger support to federal, state and local agencies.

For lots more information on the FBI and related topics, check out the links that follow.

Organization Chart text version

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a national security and law enforcement agency that uses, collects, and shares intelligence in all it does. As the only member of the U.S. Intelligence Community with broad authority over criminal and terrorist acts on U.S. soil, the FBI has a sworn duty to protect all Americans by staying ahead of national security threats to the homeland. The FBI’s mission is to uphold the Constitution and protect the American people.

The FBI's major priorities are to:

Protect the United States from terrorist attack.
Protect the U.S. against foreign intelligence, espionage, and cyber operations.
Protect the United States against cyber-based attacks and high-technology crimes.
Combat significant cybercriminal activity.
Combat public corruption at all levels.
Protect civil rights.
Combat transnational criminal enterprises.
Combat significant white-collar crime.
Combat significant violent crime.

The major functions of the FBI are to:

Conduct professional investigations and authorized intelligence collection to identify and counter the threat posed by domestic and international terrorists and their supporters within the United States, and to pursue extraterritorial criminal investigations to bring the perpetrators of terrorist acts to justice. In furtherance of this function, the FBI designs, develops, and implements counterterrorism initiatives that enhance the FBI’s ability to minimize the terrorist threat.
Conduct counterintelligence activities and coordinate counterintelligence activities of other agencies in the intelligence community within the United States. Note that Executive Order 12333 includes international terrorist activities in its definition of counterintelligence.
Coordinate the efforts of U.S. Government agencies and departments in protecting the nation’s critical infrastructure by identifying and investigating criminal and terrorist group intrusions through physical and cyber-attacks.
Investigate violations of the laws of the United States and collect evidence in cases in which the United States is or may be a party in interest, except in cases in which such responsibility is by statute or otherwise specifically assigned to another investigative agency.
Locate and apprehend fugitives for violations of specified federal laws and, when so requested, state and local fugitives pursuant to federal statutory authority.
Conduct professional investigations to identify, disrupt, and dismantle existing and emerging criminal enterprises whose activities affect the United States. Address international criminal organizations and terrorist groups, which threaten the American people and their property, through expanded international liaison and through the conduct of extraterritorial investigations as mandated by laws and executive orders.
Gather, analyze and assess information and intelligence of planned or committed criminal acts.
Establish and implement quality outreach programs that will ensure FBI and community partnerships and sharing.
Conduct personnel investigations requisite to the work of the Department of Justice and whenever required by statute or otherwise.
Establish and conduct law enforcement training programs and conduct research to provide assistance to state and local law enforcement personnel. Participate in interagency law enforcement initiatives which address crime problems common to federal/state/local agencies.
Develop new approaches, techniques, systems, equipment and devices to improve and strengthen law enforcement and assist in conducting state, local and international law enforcement training programs.
Provide timely and relevant criminal justice information and identification services concerning individuals, stolen property, criminal organizations and activities, crime statistics, and other law enforcement related data, not only to the FBI, but to qualified law enforcement, criminal justice, civilian, academic, employment, licensing, and firearms sales organizations.
Operate the Federal Bureau of Investigation Laboratory not only to serve the FBI, but also to provide, without cost, technical and scientific assistance, including expert testimony in federal or local courts, for all duly constituted law enforcement agencies, other organizational units of the Department of Justice, and other federal agencies; and to provide identification assistance in mass disasters and for other humanitarian purposes.
Review and assess operations and work performance to ensure compliance with laws, rules, and regulations and to ensure efficiency, effectiveness, and economy of operations.
Effectively and appropriately communicate and disclose information on the FBI mission, accomplishments, operations, and values to Congress, the media, and the public.