Federal Bureau of Investigation. The name alone can trigger all sorts of thoughts: respected agency, exalted, intimidating, and cool. These adjectives are all true of the Bureau, but the FBI is so much more.
The FBI serves as the principal investigative arm of the Department of Justice. 2008 marks one hundred years since the FBI was first established. It was created because crime had begun to cross from state to state and throughout the country. The Bureau has gone through major changes in those one hundred years. Back in the day, the FBI was in charge of enforcing the Prohibition Act of 1920, which prohibited the manufacture, sale, transport, import, and export of alcoholic beverages. Nowadays, the FBI’s top priority is counterterrorism, followed by foreign counterintelligence and cyber attacks/high-tech crimes. This reflects the shift in priorities within the FBI. Today, the main purpose of the FBI is to collect and analyze intelligence to prevent acts of terrorism and to gather and protect evidence or information that can be used in criminal cases. The FBI has investigative supervision of over more than two hundred categories of federal law and nearly six-hundred specific violations of federal law. The Bureau also provides leadership, assistance, and works with federal, state, local, and international law enforcement agencies. In addition, the FBI conducts background investigations of people being considered for important or sensitive positions in the Government.
Not surprisingly, an intimidating agency has an equally intimidating building. The San Antonio headquarters is a good example of this. Once inside, there is very little decoration. The main lobby has a picture of the current president of the U.S., a picture of the director of the FBI, and on the floor one can see the official FBI seal. The building is cold in temperature and in the fact that it lacks coziness. Because all of the hallways look the same, it is very easy for a person who is not familiar with the building to get lost. Each squad has an area of its own: cubicles everywhere- a lot of empty ones as well because the place is so massive.
Although the building itself is not cozy, the people who work within its walls provide the character of the work place. A lot of people believe that FBI agents are intimidating, serious, and have large egos. They are indeed intimidating but only until the point where you meet them. Some of the nicest and funniest people I have ever met are part of the FBI. A lot of misconceptions surround the FBI, and I think that the “Serious FBI-Type” is one of the biggest ones. For example, I was very fortunate to have several agents on my squad who are jokers. They were constantly joking around and breaking the silence with their laughs. By sitting at my desk, I could tell who was in and who was not according to the level of silence or, better yet, laughs. These men and women are good agents who get things done while recognizing that work should always be fun and never a burden for an individual. In addition, there are agents who have their own band and perform throughout the city while wearing goofy t-shirts and playing drums. All in all, agents are regular people.
FBI interns are placed in a squad, which is a group composed of about ten to eleven agents and non-agents. Each squad is responsible for a different criminal area. For instance, the cyber squad oversees cases of child pornography and professional hackers, while the violent crime squad is in charge of homicides, gang activities, and bank robberies among other things. I am very fortunate to be part of the public corruption squad composed mainly of seasoned agents; they know the tricks and don’t have to prove anything to anyone. The agents are welcoming, helpful, and always humorous. This particular squad is one of the most important ones in the Bureau because it is responsible for placing high-level officials in jail. It is also responsible for civil rights cases.
The majority of my time is spent outside of the building conducting interviews, visiting the county jail, looking for witnesses, or conducting searches among other things; basically, I do what the agent does. This works to my advantage because each agent is working on a different case, which means that I get to do a variety of things during the week. However, there are times when I have to work at my desk all day. On those days I would be listening to a subject’s conversation and matching it to a verbatim transcript, inputting telephone numbers into a program, or going through documents and flagging any section that might be questionable. These tasks are tedious work that must get done in order for a case to move along. In addition to these tasks, every intern has a list of tasks that they must complete throughout the duration of the internship; these include attendance to a SWAT exercise, evidence response opportunities, firearm familiarization, and interacting with other local or state agencies, among other tasks.
If any of the agents have something to do outside of the office (interviews, case hearings, etc…) they ask me if I would like to come along and, of course, I say yes. Every day at the FBI internship is different and always interesting.
One of the most interesting assignments of an FBI intern is to participate in a search warrant. Acting on a search warrant is an event which requires a lot of preparation. The day of the search is the climax of a process that had begun over a month ago. Many things are gathered during this time. A good number of individuals from different squads (agents and non-agents) come together for the common purpose of searching a subject’s house or business for any questionable evidence. There is a briefing conducted on the day prior to the search to make sure that everyone knows their duty. Most briefings last no more than half an hour, because they go straight to the point. Also, if one happens to miss the briefing, everything is described in detail in a packet given to each participant.
On the day of the search, the participants meet very early in the morning at a spot previously chosen by the agent in charge (FBI building, random parking lot, etc…) and divide into different groups. Each group has a particular task: one group arrives first at the search location and clears the premises, another group takes pictures and keeps a photo log, others go through evidence, and others perform interviews with the subject and his or her family. While waiting for the green light, many have their coffees at hand, others their breakfast bar. Sleepy faces for the most part. However, once the search goes under way, every one steps into action. By this time, everybody knows their duty and should carry it out swiftly. By doing this, the search process goes much smoother and the possibility of a mistake is decreased. Like with all things in the FBI, there is a chain of communication and, in the case of evidence, one of custody. Any questions or doubts are to be answered by the case agent in charge of this particular search. A search can be a tedious event but one that provides a good learning experience. The more searches one can be a part of, the better prepared one is for the next one.
One particular search done with the evidence response team stands out as the most interesting of the ones I have participated on. I should point out that the reason I can discuss this high profile case is because the overall details of it have been reported in the newspaper and news networks (as an FBI intern, one is expected to keep all information secret). The search took place at a dump site where the sights and smells of trash were abundant. People from different FBI offices came to San Antonio to assist with this search. Security at the dump site was crucial. Agents and support staff were located at two different areas of the site in order to prevent trespassers from taking pictures or going into the area. Local news helicopters would fly over the site, but there was only so much one can do about that.
The mechanics of the search itself were simple. A group of three to four people would carefully go through a small pile of trash in thirty-minute shifts. Because this was taking place outdoors and it had been a hot week, the participants needed to stay hydrated and cool to prevent any one from suffering heat exhaustion. Trailers with air conditioning and big fans were located at the site along with medics. After one section of trash was cleared, a bulldozer would drop another pile of trash and the process would be repeated. The search lasted about two weeks and the FBI was in charge of the area for the entire time. The FBI was responsible for security both day and night. I had the opportunity to stay overnight in order to secure the premises along with two other agents. Although this might sound boring, it was actually entertaining. Every once in a while we would go outside and check the area; the rest of the time we would be in a trailer. The trailer was equipped with cameras that would allow us to look over the particular area in which the search was taking place. A satellite television and a refrigerator were also available. By keeping busy, the night went by faster than I had originally expected. A few days later, the search was called off because nothing was found in the area. Although the search itself yielded no results, it was still a good experience to be a part of.
I have participated in three searches. As an intern, one can truly be of help by logging in pictures, searching rooms, and bagging evidence among many other assignments. Agents try to teach you things and talk to you about previous searches. Listening to their past experiences is interesting and fun. Those two adjectives seem to describe my daily experiences here at the FBI.
This internship has given me a great opportunity to learn what it would be like if I were to become a special agent with the FBI. It has become very clear to me that this is what I want to do the rest of my life. I had a great time with the agents and I will miss them dearly. They have taught me so much in the little time I spent at the office. They were my family away from home. A major reason why the FBI interests me so much is because at the end of the day its members reflect the Bureau’s motto of “fidelity, bravery, and integrity.” I truly hope that the path to my future leads to the FBI doorstep. At this point, I would not want it to lead anywhere else.
