The FBI…What in the World is Going On? (Part 2)

  

I only served under Hoover for a short period of time.  He died about five or six months after I entered the Bureau.  It could be correctly stated that he ruled the Bureau and his Agents with an iron hand.  The rules for conduct were extensive, extreme and some bordered on the eccentric.  For example:  Agents were not allowed coffee breaks while on duty - that was in or out of the office.  I soon learned that said rule was often, almost universally, ignored by the Agents.  Nonetheless, if caught by a supervisor, you could be officially censured; and if on probation status at the time, it could mean 'adios.'

Another requirement, more difficult to circumvent, was that New Agents were limited to how long they could be in the Office.  Reason given:  FBI Agents do not solve cases in the office.  I recall the Time in Office (TIO) allowed was about 10% of the workday.  That was approximately an hour because ten-hour days were expected.  For new Agents with no assigned car, this was a problem; and often meant standing at the front door in the morning waiting for a more senior Agent to arrive and ask (beg) to use their car for part of the day to cover leads.  If that failed the public library was a place to work on reports.  And yes, you had to walk.  This was the typical 'First Office' which lasted about nine to ten months.  Finishing that, you were assigned a 'Second Office.'  In my case, it was San Francisco.  I felt that I had hit the jackpot.  That's when, finally, they treated you like a regular Agent... and cars were available.

I had been a deputy sheriff, prior to the military, and before I entered the Bureau.  It was the Bureau’s custom or policy to send five or six Agents to make an arrest – arrests that a deputy sheriff often made on his own.  It seemed kind of demeaning.  In my 'first office,' I remember arresting a selective service violator, a Jehovah’s Witness.  I had previously talked to him and his mother on the telephone.  They were both cooperative.  I said I would come by the house and get him, take him for processing.  The supervisor made me take two other Agents for ‘back up’ and to insure he was properly handcuffed.  It was embarrassing.  The kid was upset.  The mother was upset.  Both seemed like very nice people.  I did apologize to the mother and made some lame excuse for why this was necessary.

Now, it would seem that the Bureau has carried on that same tradition or mind set on steroids… with SWAT teams sent to almost all arrests.  Why?  The Agents' pool, in large part, has morphed into something like ‘girly men.’  I know that term might get me in trouble.  However, they seemed to get away with it on Saturday Night Live.  So, I will give it a try.  But, to clarify, I worked with women Agents, and for the most part, they did not fit in that category.  It generally fits the type of men (and some women) presently recruited.  Which explains why they send a SWAT Team to make the most mundane arrests.  And, it explains why the shooting requirements for Agents have sunk to comical lows.

 

To be continued…

 

True Nelson