Intelligence Reform Implementation at the Federal Bureau of Investigation: Issues and Options for Congress

Abstract

In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) embarked on a program to reform its intelligence and national security programs. In the nearly four years since 9/11 many experts agree the FBI has made progress in some areas (dissemination of raw intelligence), but some believe that the FBI has shown little progress in other areas (establishing an integrated and proactive intelligence program) while the FBI's budget increased by 68% from FY2000 to FY2005. The Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission has recommended, and the White House has approved, the establishment of a National Security Service within the FBI. This Service would integrate the FBI's Counterterrorism and Counterintelligence Divisions with the FBI's Directorate of Intelligence (DI). Whether this organizational change will yield substantive results is an open question. There are at least two schools of thought with respect to how the FBI has performed in implementing its intelligence reform initiatives. The "optimists" believe there is a critical synergy- between the law enforcement and intelligence disciplines, and that the FBI has successfully made changes throughout its history to respond to the threats of the time. Since the FBI's vision for intelligence reform is sound, success is simply a matter of implementing that vision. Alternatively, the "skeptics" believe that law enforcement and intelligence are distinct disciplines demanding different skill sets to achieve different ends. They argue the FBI's vision is fundamentally unsound, and its ongoing implementation has not yielded an integrated intelligence program. According to this group, intelligence collection remains effectively separated from intelligence analysis at the FBI.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 16, 2005
Accession Number
ADA448094

Entities

People

  • Alfred Cumming
  • Todd Masse

Organizations

  • Library of Congress

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Cyber

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Congress
  • Counterterrorism
  • Criminal Investigations
  • Employment
  • Governments
  • Information Systems
  • Intelligence (Information Gathering)
  • Intelligence Collection
  • Intelligence Community (United States)
  • Intelligence Cycle
  • Law
  • National Security
  • Organizational Structure
  • Personnel Management
  • Public Administration
  • Surveillance
  • United States Government

Readers

  • Economics
  • Geospatial Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence Analytics
  • International Journalism and Media Studies.