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ince the terrorist attacksof September 11, 2001,managing and sharingS

timely threat information andstrategic and tactical intelli-gence with state and local of-ficials have become primaryconcerns of the federal govern-ment. In its final report, the 9/11Commission stated that “intelli-gence gathered about trans-national terrorism should beprocessed, turned into reports,and distributed according tothe same quality standards,whether it is collected in Paki-stan or in Texas.”1 The report

went on to say that the FBIshould build a reciprocal rela-tionship with state and localagencies, maximizing thesharing of information.2

In reflection of its emphasison this goal, the FBI is makingmajor changes. In September2003, Director Robert Muellerordered the creation of FieldIntelligence Groups (FIGs) inall 56 field offices. FIGs consti-tute a centerpiece of the FBI’stransition toward combining itsintelligence and investigativecapabilities and serve a criticalrole in the agency’s intelligence

function. The groups workclosely with the FBI-led JointTerrorism Task Forces (JTTFs),various field office squads, andother agency components toprovide valuable service to lawenforcement personnel at thestate and local levels.

Effective StructureOverseen by the FBI’s

Directorate of Intelligence,3

FIGs generally consist of spe-cial agents, intelligence ana-lysts, linguists, and other mem-bers of the law enforcementand intelligence communities.

The FBI’s Field IntelligenceGroups and PoliceJoining ForcesBy an analyst with the FBI's Directorate of Intelligence

© Digital Stock

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2 / FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin

While this basic structureremains largely consistentthroughout the FBI’s fieldoffices, some FIGs have cre-ated new ways to addresstheir critical mission.

FIGs manage the intelli-gence cycle in the FBI’s fieldoffices, integrating it withinvestigations so that local,state, and federal law enforce-ment and intelligence commu-nity agencies can benefit. FIGsidentify intelligence gaps; ob-tain and analyze raw intelli-gence from FBI investigationsand sources; and generateintelligence products and dis-seminate them to the intelli-gence and law enforcementcommunities to help guideinvestigative, program, andpolicy decisions.

One former police chief,now an assistant director withthe FBI, considers the develop-ment of FIGs a positive moveforward because they promotean environment of information

sharing between federal, state,and local agencies. He empha-sizes that in addition to beingconsumers of information, FIGsprovide it as well. The role ofthe FIG, in part, is to help makesense of intelligence, therebyassisting state and local policein their own analysis. FIGs canreview data from all jurisdic-tions in a particular geographicarea or nationwide and identifypatterns or trends that police,isolated in their own munici-palities, may not see. Personnelkeep information in the respec-tive field offices (unless, ofcourse, it affects other areasof the country) and discuss itwith local police.

EfficientCommunication

In the wake of the Septem-ber 11 attacks, the FBI’s abilityto communicate with other lawenforcement agencies has im-proved significantly. Its effortsin the Washington, D.C., area

serve as an example. Home toimportant government build-ings, monuments, and morethan 500,000 people, the na-tion’s capital represents anattractive terrorist target. Toaddress the important issue ofhow to communicate strategicand tactical intelligence andpotential threat informationquickly across federal andlocal jurisdictions, the FBI’sWashington field office (WFO)FIG reaches out to some 40federal, state, and local lawenforcement agencies througha weekly conference call tobrief metropolitan area officerson counterterrorism mattersthat could affect the city andthe surrounding area. Policechiefs have valued the opportu-nity to receive briefings fromthe FBI and to communicatewith their peers on a weeklybasis.

Also, WFO special agentsmeet with police chiefs face-to-face and stay in regular contactwith them through e-mails andtelephone calls. The office hasdivided Washington, D.C., andnorthern Virginia into zonesand assigned personnel to eachone. Agents hold responsibilityfor establishing liaison withheads of police departments,hospitals, key businesses, se-curity agencies, and others intheir zones. If the need arises,WFO can simultaneously pageevery police chief in the metro-politan area and quickly initiate

“

” .

FIGs providevaluable up-to-dateintelligence to thelaw enforcement

community.

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a conference call to relaycritical information.

Timely DisseminationFIGs provide valuable up-

to-date intelligence to the lawenforcement community. Forinstance, WFO’s FIG producesweekly intelligence bulletinsand posts them on the LawEnforcement Online (LEO)Web site. Any police officerin the United States with accessto the JTTF page of LEO canread them. In addition to gen-eral information, each bulletincontains a summary of potentialthreats, stolen items, and suspi-cious activities reported to theJTTF by citizens and policedepartments. These bulletinsallow law enforcement execu-tives to determine if similarcrimes and suspicious activitiesare being reported in otherjurisdictions.

The FIG analyst who writesthe bulletin serves as the contactand receives numerous dailye-mails from police depart-ments. Often, these messagescontain general questions orrequests for case-specific in-telligence. Agencies that donot have a detailee on the JTTFor a contact at the FIG cancommunicate with personnelvia a hotline. Law enforcementofficers can relay their depart-ments’ intelligence needs tothe FIG; personnel in the groupthen can determine a collectionand production strategy.

FIGs also produce in-depthintelligence assessments of,for example, a particular crimeproblem. Information may comefrom classified sources, policetips, arrests, or crimes. Analystsremove references to sourcesand methods of collection,conduct analysis, and release aproduct via LEO, the NationalLaw Enforcement Telecommu-nications System (NLETS), or

personnel who specialize inviolent crime and gangs andhas been working to increasethe amount of intelligence itgathers on subjects, such aswhat happens at gang meetings,who the local leaders are, andhow an order to kill an indi-vidual is set. WFO strives todevelop methods of collectionand recruit sources, such asindividuals who attend gangmeetings, that will help theFBI gather such intelligence.

In one recent instance, anorthern Virginia gang mem-ber threatened to kill a policeofficer. WFO received this in-formation from a source whohad been gathering intelligenceon a particular gang. Additionalinformation from this individualrevealed that the person whomade the threat was attemptingto obtain a gun. Police werenot able to arrest the man forthreatening the officer, but theFBI passed the information tolocal police, who eventuallyarrested him for driving whileintoxicated. This charge placedhim in violation of his parole,and the two charges combinedmay result in several years ofjail time.

In recent years, the MaraSalvatrucha gang, also knownas MS-13, has become a prob-lem for law enforcement inWashington, D.C., and north-ern Virginia. FBI intelligencegathered from sources andshared with local police has

direct e-mail to cleared recipi-ents. Agencies find such prod-ucts useful. For example, apolice department may passthe intelligence along to patrolofficers who could come acrosssuspicious terrorist-relatedactivity.

Variety ofIntelligence

Far from focusing only onterrorism, FIGs also produceand disseminate intelligencepertaining to cyber, counterin-telligence, and criminal pro-grams. For example, WFO has

”“ The groups...

provide valuableservice to lawenforcement

personnel at thestate and local

levels.

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4 / FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin

”

“…by working together,law enforcement

personnel…are doingall they can to obtain

and share informationthat will help themprotect the citizens

they serve.

been used to clear cases ofphysical assaults and murdersinvolving this vicious gang. Inone instance, MS-13 membersbadly beat a victim in a localpark. Source information helpedlocal police identify a suspect,and a warrant was issued forhis arrest.

Also, WFO can coordinatewith personnel in the FBI’s LosAngeles field office (LAFO),where MS-13 long has been afixture in gang-related crime.Working with intelligence fromLAFO’s FIG helps WFO passalong valuable information topolice in Washington, D.C., andnorthern Virginia. For example,WFO and its FIG receive infor-mation on MS-13 members whoare traveling from Los Angelesto help organize gangs on theEast Coast. Frontline officersbenefit by tapping into theseintelligence resources. In addi-tion to providing such informa-tion, the FBI can help “connectthe dots” between the differentpolice departments.

Valuable Police TrainingFIGs also provide valuable

training to state and local agen-cies. The efforts of the FBI’sDallas, Texas, field office serveas an example. In one instance,the north Texas law enforce-ment community had questionsregarding the Violent Gang andTerrorist Organization File(VGTOF), one of severalcontained in the automatedNational Crime Information

Center database. As policeknow, they can use VGTOF torun names during traffic stopsand other arrests to find outwhether the individual, forexample, is wanted for drugoffenses or listed on a terroristwatchlist. The Dallas FIGoffered training on how torespond when an individual’sname registers as a positive hiton VGTOF for suspected terror-ist activity. As a result, policenow can use these electronicmessages more effectively.

2,000 police and critical infra-structure business leaders havebeen cleared and given pass-words to go beyond the homepage to receive informationfrom the FBI, such as intelli-gence bulletins and assess-ments. For example, northTexas utilities executives canlearn about the concerns ofother large utilities around thecountry, such as the Nevadapower company that reportedthe loosening of bolts on trans-mission towers, through theERN.

Also, members of lawenforcement, the businesscommunity, and the generalpublic can use the ERN tocontact the FIG and provideinformation of potential interest.To ensure a quick response,some personnel wear pagersthat alert them to the e-mail ifcertain key words are used. Inone incident, a local companythat makes bomb casings forthe military suspected an actof sabotage within its plant.The company sent a messageto the Dallas FIG on the ERN,and, within 10 minutes, aspecial agent responded witha telephone call to the companyto obtain more information.Within 30 minutes, an agentarrived at the plant to investi-gate. The ERN also was used toreport a number of suspiciousincidents in which witnessessaw individuals taking picturesof critical infrastructure equip-ment, such as transformers, in

EmergencyResponse Network

The Dallas field office andits FIG have established anemergency response network(ERN) that connects the FIGwith more than 500 law en-forcement agencies in thegreater north Texas area. TheERN Web site allows the FIGto receive and provide criticalinformation. Approximately

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the north Texas area. Onesuch situation involved autility company representativee-mailing the license platenumber of a suspect’s vehicleover the ERN and receiving asame-day response from theFBI. Internet hacking incidentsalso have been reported viathe network.

The ERN was used to sendout mass e-mails in severalsituations. For example, whenFBI Headquarters released anotice that the Department ofHomeland Security planned toraise the national threat levelduring the 2003 Christmasseason, the Dallas field office

made area law enforcementauthorities aware of the decisionin advance. Police received ane-mail through the ERN lettingthem know that the change inthe threat level would be an-nounced to the media in 2hours. Further, the e-mail gavesome information on the rea-sons behind the decision andhelped area police departmentslessen the anxiety for theiremployees and the public.

Computers and Policing

Cybercrime representsanother area in which FIGsare creating new ways to shareintelligence with state and local

police. For instance, in Dallas,authorities investigated anInternet fraud complaint inwhich the complainant toldpolice he purchased $5,300worth of merchandise from alocal business but never re-ceived the goods. The investi-gating officer contacted theDallas FIG. When personnelentered the case informationinto a specialized database, itmatched an ongoing FBI inves-tigation into the same business.If the match had involved, forinstance, two police depart-ments in different areas, the FBIwould have put the appropriateofficers in touch with each

The FBI’s Intelligence Cycle

Source: http://www.fbi.gov/intelligence/process.htm

• Requirements: identifying information needs, based on critical data required to protectthe United States from national security and criminal threats

• Planning and direction: managing the entire intelligenceeffort, from identifying the need for information to

delivering a finished product to a consumer

• Collection: gathering raw information based onrequirements (includes activities, such as interviews,surveillances, human source operation, searches,and liaison relationships)

• Processing and exploitation: converting collectedinformation into a form usable by analysts through avariety of methods, including decryption, language

translation, and data reduction

• Analysis and production: transforming raw informa-tion into intelligence (includes integrating, evaluating,

and analyzing available data and preparing products)

• Dissemination: distributing raw or finished intelligence to consumers

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other. It then would have beenup to the two investigators todecide which agency shouldtake the lead in the case andhow to share information.This system works well withcybercases in which jurisdictionbecomes an issue due to thelocation of suspects, witnesses,and Internet servers in differentareas.

The Dallas FIG also isadding child pornography casesto the database, with the goalof having the system go nation-wide so that police departmentscan coordinate their cases withcounterparts in other areas ofthe country. Of course, agencyparticipation will determine

how fast the database expandsand how useful police willfind it.

ConclusionNow, more than ever, the

FBI understands the need toshare intelligence—pertainingnot only to terrorism but alsoother crimes, such as gang ac-tivity, fraud, child pornography,and cargo theft. The ability tocommunicate and disseminateintelligence through FIGs hasproven effective, greatly im-proving coordination betweenagencies at the federal, state,and local levels and helpingpersonnel solve crimes andmake arrests.

Of course, many difficulttasks lie ahead. But, by workingtogether, law enforcement per-sonnel can rest assured that theyare doing all they can to obtainand share information that willhelp them protect the citizensthey serve.

Endnotes1 National Commission on Terror

Attacks Upon the United States, The 9/11Commission Report: Final Report of theNational Commission on Terrorist AttacksUpon the United States (Washington, DC,2004), 427.

2 Ibid., 417.3 The FBI’s Directorate of Intelligence

(formerly known as the Office of Intelli-gence) was established in January 2003to promote and standardize the agency’sefforts to collect, analyze, and shareintelligence.

6 / FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin

T he FBI Law Enforcement Bulle-tin staff invites you to communi-

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cate with us via e-mail. Our Internetaddress is leb@fbiacademy.edu.

We would like to know yourthoughts on contemporary law en-forcement issues. We welcome yourcomments, questions, and suggestionsabout the magazine. Please includeyour name, title, and agency on alle-mail messages.

Also, the Bulletin is available forviewing or downloading on a numberof computer services, as well as theFBI’s home page. The home pageaddress is http://www.fbi.gov.

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