Talk:Federal Bureau of Investigation/Archive 1

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Archive This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.

Should there be information here on the recent reorganisation of the FBI? --Daniel C. Boyer

i.e. its primary function will now be counterterrorism. --Daniel C. Boyer

Should criticism that the FBI along the lines that it is actually a secret police organisation, and, on the other hand, defences of the FBI, be a part of this page? The presentation of the FBI as purely noncontroversial -- I don't think the COINTELPRO does enough in this regard as it does not properly emphasize the ongoing misdeeds in which I maintain the Bureau has been involved (though I definitely think for NPOV the other side should be laid out as well) -- is questionable. --Daniel C. Boyer

Mention of other controversial FBI acts in the post-Hoover period are missing. Judi Bari, Ruby Ridge, Waco are not mentioned. How much detail should be gone into here, or is it better for other articles or what? --Daniel C. Boyer

I think they belong. --KQ

Should add claim by Ashcroft that library records have not actually been searched under PATRIOT, although others have said this has happened. How to revise this? --Daniel C. Boyer 19:46, 21 Sep 2003 (UTC)

Given that a library (librarian) would almost certainly require a search warrant, it should be simple to verify,
Not necessarily; the search warrant may well have been issued by FISA, among other possibilities (this would actually impose a gag order on the librarian). --Daniel C. Boyer 20:27, 22 Sep 2003 (UTC)
so I would prefer factual information to yet another useless and weak Wikipedia "so-and-so claims that such and such happened, but so-and-so claims that it didn't" blurb. Besides, it belongs on one of the PATRIOT web pages. Daniel Quinlan 23:10, Sep 21, 2003 (UTC)
This article might be useful: The Impact of the USA PATRIOT Act: An Update. --Daniel C. Boyer 19:49, 22 Sep 2003 (UTC)

"However, the general impression which most Americans hold of the FBI, is that it is a very effective agency in fighting crime": this desperately needs to be subtly qualified. While this is the view of many Americans, there is also a strong current (especially since September 11) of FBI incompetence, something openly alluded to even before then in such mainstream movies as On Deadly Ground, The Rock, &c., &c., &c. I don't know quite how to approach revising to reveal this extremely mixed perception. --Daniel C. Boyer 19:00, 28 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Dear Daniel C.Boyer, Dan, I ask this question to you out of curiousity. Why do you have such an interest in discussing the FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation here on Wikipedia? I thought your interests were primarily in Surrealism, since you are involved in Surrealism? Dan, what do you think of the FBI?
This really doesn't have anything to do with editing or improving the article, and I don't think my edits show "such" an interest. --Daniel C. Boyer 00:01, 17 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Daniel, so this is basically just another post by you? Oh, Ok. Upon reading the above posts you made in this particular article page, I was under the impression that you took some kind of interest here in the FBI, you know, criticism and evaluation of their methods of investigation, search warrant issues, the Patriot Act, etc? Daniel, do you know of any more links that can help improve this article?

The FBI: Do you really think that the public's perception of the FBI is influenced by movies, even popular ones? Wasn't the Rock farfetched? Even with Sean Connery in it. the people don't care about stuff like that, it was just a movie, as for Ruby Ridge and Waco, who was really at fault here? The US Marshals? The ATF? How about meglomaniacs like david Corish? ao how about men who never grew up and even at 40 yers old still acted like rebellious teenagers. They made their beds, they had to sleep in them. Even if J Edgar ran the bureau for a long long time and he had prticular interests it still did its job well. Would you rather have a KGB here? how about a Gestapo? The people with something to hide are the ones who complain the most. "The Innocent hide nothing." Beria--Tomtom 15:47, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)

  • (re: The Rock being "farfetched"): I believe this is true to some degree. But your discounting of how movies shape popular perception is overly dismissive.
  • (re: "men who never grew up"): the idea that when you "grow up" you should start kowtowing to a dictatorship is a loathsome one.
  • (re: "Would you rather have a KGB here? how about a Gestapo?"): We don't have to worry about that; we're pretty close now.
  • (re:"The Innocent [sic] hide nothing"): from a secret police agency? --Daniel C. Boyer 00:01, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

Contents

G-men

Surely the entry should contain a reference to the nickname 'G-men'?

Hmmm. We call them feebs.Blondlieut 20:55, 25 February 2006 (UTC)

FBI History

I think that the history has been left with a very negative cant based upon mentioning things like COINTELPRO and the lab scandals in the 90's without any of the successes of the Bureau mentioned at all in this "history." The capture of numerous felons happens every week with the FBI, whose successes far outstrip their failures in numbers if not in scope (assuming that one lays the blame for the success of the 9.11 terrorists at the FBI's doorstep, though I would argue the CIA and two successive Presidential administrations are more to blame on that score). Do the names Dillinger and Kaczynski ring bells? Look to the top 10 list where as of 1999 429 out of 458 placed on the list through the years have been apprehended.

There have been numerous failures that were directly attributable to the FBI as well, like Hansen and Pitts. Ruby Ridge was a failure as well, though I would argue it was one of management than of systemic issues with the Bureau itself. I see no mentions of those either. This is a bare history, and should be reexamined by someone without strong feelings against or for the Bureau. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Jonrboyer (talk • contribs) .

ID cards carried by agents

I don't know why this is here. ID cards are purely security and badges are for another. Does it really matter? Timothy Clemans 07:19, 11 December 2005 (UTC)

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI)

Why does Tennesse have its own Bureau of Investigation? I don't see Illinois Bureau of Investigation, Michigan Bureau of Investigation or California Bureau of Investigation. Would you explain to me please...

Some states have a "Bureau of Investigation" (for example, Georgia) and others, like Michigan do not. I don't know any more about it than this. --Daniel C. Boyer 18:41, 25 September 2005 (UTC)
See this articles for more information: State Bureau of Investigation | Tennessee Bureau of Investigation | Alabama Bureau of Investigation | 200.123.151.247 23:20, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

Tasks of the FBI

Is the FBI also a counterintelligence service? if not which agency does counterintelligence ops? --200.68.127.184 07:57, 11 December 2005 (UTC)

Timothy Clemans 06:41, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

Join

I am curious to join the FBI and I want to know if they take non-citizens of the USA.

Start with http://www.fbijobs.com. FBI Employment Requirements do not inculde US citizenship(https://www.fbijobs.gov/fer.asp. Timothy Clemans 20:04, 21 December 2005 (UTC)

That's because the citizenship question isn't an FBI matter, it's a Governmentwide matter. The U.S. Government is only allowed to hire non-US Citizens when there is no US Citizen who would have the skills to do the job in question (i.e., an expert in Finnish literature for the Library of Congress), or there's a special statutory exemption (overseas workers at US embassies). That's never going to be the case for an FBI S/A, as a practical matter.Blondlieut 21:00, 25 February 2006 (UTC)

From the Special Agent Entry Quailifications Paragraph:
Entry Requirements:
To carry out its mission, the FBI needs men and women who can fill a variety of demanding positions. To qualify as an FBI Special Agent, you must be a U.S. citizen, or a citizen of the Northern Mariana Islands, at least 23 and not have reached your 37th birthday on appointment. Candidates must be completely available for assignment anywhere in the FBI's jurisdiction.
--Shane (T - C - E) 23:05, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

X-Files

There is NO real X-Files in the FBI at all. Martial Law 08:43, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

That's true and not true. There are no X-Files as in the TV show, of course, but an "X" file is a naming convention used in the file classification system, and it shows up all the time in FOIA releases. Blondlieut 21:03, 25 February 2006 (UTC)

Removal

"As of July 2005, the FBI's counterterrorism duties are to be consolidated in the new National Security Service, remotely similar to the UK's MI5."

Perhaps this should be removed, particulalry given the date, or otherwise rewritten, but there's no indication from the editor for his or her actions. Blondlieut 21:11, 28 February 2006 (UTC)