Shifting priorities within the Federal Bureau of Investigation
toward counter-terrorism have not had a conclusive effect on
its traditional crime enforcement performance, the Government
Accounting Office has said.
It said that the FBI shifted agent resources to counterterrorism,
counterintelligence and cyber-crime away from drug crimes – its
drug program alone saw 550 employee transfers — white-collar,
and violent crime enforcement programs, but that the data it
examined do not indicate whether performance in those roles has
suffered. However, it cautioned that its assessment was based
on short-term indicators.
Similarly, some law enforcement officers said the effect was
negligible while others said, drug, white-collar and violent-crime
investigations had suffered, said GAO.
It said following the priority shift after 9/11, “the combined
FBI and DEA non-supervisory field agent resources decreased by
about 10 percent,” but DEA is expecting increases in positions
over the next two years.
The number of new FBI and DEA drug matter cases also declined
by 10 percent since 2001, from 22,736 in fiscal 2001, to 20,387
in fiscal 2003, said GAO, noting that the decline could be
attributed to an increase in targeting major organizations
rather than more widespread smaller networks.
White-collar and violent crime data do not demonstrate conclusive
effects either. “The number of white-collar crime referrals from
federal agencies to U.S. Attorneys declined by about 6 percent,
from 12,792 in fiscal year 2001 to 12,057 in fiscal year
2003, violent crime referrals from all federal sources have
increased by about 29 percent, from 14,546 in fiscal year 2001
to 18,723 in fiscal year 2003,” said GAO.