Federal Crime Fighters; The FBI

The FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) is only one of several federal organizations that fight crime in the US. Its job is confined by law to the United States but it does have "legal attaches" at US embassies in foreign countries. The FBI is part of the US Department of Justice who's leader is the US Attorney General. It has 33,652 employees , 13,249 of whom are sworn agents and has an annual budget of $7.9 billion.

The mission of the FBI is to protect the United States against terrrorist and foreign intelligence threats, to uphold and enforce the criminal laws of the United States and to provide leadershipand criminal justice services to federal, state, municipal and international partners and agencies.

The motto of the FBI is "Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity".

The priorities of the FBI are:
1. Protect the United States from terrorist attacks.
2. Protect the United States against foreign intelligence operations and espionage.
3. Protect the United States against cyber-based attack and high technology crimes.
4. Combat public corruption at all levels.
5. Protect Civil Rights.
6. Combat transnational/national criminal organizations and enterprises.
7. Combat major white collar crime.
8. Combat significant violent crime.
9. Support federal, local and international partners.
10. Upgrade technology for successful performance of the FBI's mission.

The FBI operates 56 field offices in major US cities and maintains 400 resident agents in smaller cities as well as 50 "legal attaches" in US embassies.

To become an FBI agnet an applicant must be between the ages of 23 and 37(There arre some exceptiions), be a citizen of the US, have a clean record and a four year bachelor's degree.  In addition, potential agents must qualify for a TS (Top Secret) security clearance and be able to pass a physical fitness test. Successful applicants must complete a 21 week training course at the Marine base at Quantico, Virginia.

World War II Woman Cryptographer

Catherine Kingsley, an 88 year old Tulsa, Oklahoma resident, revealed to the Tulsa World that she was a WWII "Code Breaker." She graduated from Oklahoma A & M (Oklahoma State University) in 1943 wth a degree in languages. She knows 5: English, German,Spanish, French and Latin. She went to work for the FBI in Washington DC as an analyst. One of her jobs was to analyze the letters that Geman prisoners of war being held in the US, were sending home. She looked for coded or hidden messages. She says the work was highly classified and that there are some things that she still cannot discuss today.