FBI Headquarters Reorganization

Congress approved, and today the Director implemented, a restructuring plan for Headquarters, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the first step in what will be a phased process of reorganizing assets, modernizing and integrating new technology, and consolidating functions. This reorganization was considered and approved by the Attorney General’s Strategic Management Council and will serve as the foundation as the FBI redefines priorities and missions in the coming months.

This reorganization, the need for which is widely accepted within the FBI community, is consistent with the recommendations from several studies and inquiries, and recognizes new challenges and responsibilities. Among other things, it seeks to increase the emphasis in counterterrorism, counterintelligence, cybercrimes, and relations with state and local law enforcement. It also seeks to provide the vehicle for a vastly enhanced information technology upgrade, expanded training for the FBI workforce at all levels, improved security, and improved capabilities for FBI investigators, analysts, forensic examiners, and other specialists.

The major elements of the first phase of the Headquarters reorganization effort include the creation of four new executive assistant director positions to oversee key FBI functions.

The positions and their designated heads include:

• Executive Assistant Director for Criminal Investigations—To be headed by Ruben Garcia, Jr., 23-year FBI veteran who was formerly the assistant director of the Criminal Investigative Division.
• Executive Assistant Director for Counterterrorism/Counterintelligence—To be headed by Dale L. Watson, currently the assistant director for the Counterterrorism Division. Mr. Watson entered the Bureau in 1978 and has served continually in intelligence and counterterrorism roles since 1982. In 1996, he was named the deputy chief of the CIA’s Counterterrorist Center at CIA Headquarters.
• Executive Assistant Director for Law Enforcement Services—To be headed by 23-year veteran Kathleen L. McChesney. Currently the assistant director of the FBI Training Division, she has served as special agent in charge of the Portland, Oregon and Chicago Field Offices.
• Executive Assistant Director for Administration—To be headed by Robert J. Chiaradio, currently an assistant to FBI Director Robert Mueller. A veteran of the FBI since 1984, Chiaradio was previously the special agent in charge of the Tampa Field Office and the chief of staff for the FBI Deputy Director.

FBI divisions and offices will realign under one of these four executive assistant directors who report through the offices of the Director/Deputy Director. This reorganization step effectively narrows the supervisory span of control and will greatly increase efficiency, accountability and oversight.

Two new divisions have also been created to increase emphasis on computer-facilitated crimes and security. The Cybercrime Division will address intellectual property investigations, as well as high tech and computer crimes. The Security Division will be responsible for ensuring the integrity of FBI employees, contractors, visitors, information systems, and facilities.

Also a part of this phase of reorganization is the opening of four new offices: Law Enforcement Coordination for improving FBI coordination with state and local law enforcement and information sharing; Chief Technology Officer reporting directly to the Office of the Director and charged with the implementation of the ongoing critical information technology projects; Office of Records Management whose function is the modernization of FBI records, including management policies and processes; and the Intelligence Office charged with enhancing analytical and intelligence capabilities, particularly in the critical counterterrorism and counterintelligence areas.

The Investigative Services Division will be disbanded as a result of this reorganization and its important responsibilities and assets integrated into current or newly created components as appropriate.

Attached to this release is an expanded breakdown of the Headquarters Phase I reorganization, an organizational chart showing the new realignments and biographical information on the newly appointed executive assistant directors.

The second phase of Headquarters reorganization, which will deal with changes at the divisional and office levels of the FBI, will focus on such areas as eliminating duplication, consolidating functions, and realigning resources.

When coupled with new hiring priorities aimed at special skill sets, workforce development initiatives, and a particular emphasis on developing an overarching leadership climate at every level of Bureau operations, Phase II reorganization promises measurable enhancements in tune with new law enforcement challenges and realities.

The reorganization of FBI Headquarters is part of the Director’s comprehensive plan to address not only the new challenges of terrorism, but to modernize and streamline the Bureau’s more traditional functions so that it may better serve not only its law enforcement partners, but the nation.

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Expanded Breakdown of the Reorganization

Recent events and concerns expressed by Congress and various reviews of FBI operations dictate significant changes in the structure and management of the FBI. The Director of the FBI is developing a comprehensive plan to address the management and organizational challenges facing the FBI. The key elements of this plan will be: updating and refocusing the FBI’s Strategic Plan; reorganizing FBIHQ to better accomplish that plan; modernizing the FBI’s information technology infrastructure; reallocating and retraining the FBI workforce to meet today’s more complex mission; and restructuring field offices. The proposed restructuring of the upper levels of FBIHQ described below is the first element of that comprehensive plan.

Through this proposed reorganization and the other actions under development, the Director’s goal to focus the FBI on:

• Preventing acts of terrorism and, where prevention fails, responding to and investigating acts of terrorism;
• Countering foreign intelligence activities and investigating acts of espionage including
  economic espionage;
• Preventing cybercrime and high tech and intellectual property crime;
• Detecting and dismantling transnational and national criminal enterprises and networks; and
• Investigating serious federal crimes including violent crime, civil rights violations and public corruption.

To carry out these investigative priorities, the FBI must improve relations and intelligence sharing with our law enforcement, public safety, intelligence community, and international partners; exploit technology to develop the tools and capabilities needed by investigators, analysts, forensic examiners, and others to do their jobs more effectively; train and develop its workforce; modernize and repair its eroding information technology and administrative infrastructure; and better use expertise available from other agencies, academia, and the private sector.

An important part of the comprehensive plan is the reorganization of FBIHQ, which will be approached in two phases. Phase 1 deals with the upper levels of FBIHQ, addressing management shortcomings by establishing four major branches, creating two new divisions, establishing four new offices and realigning the existing FBIHQ structure within the new framework. Following implementation of Phase 1, the Director will work with his management team to propose changes in the remaining FBIHQ structure to eliminate duplication and redundancies, consolidate functions, and realign resources to more effectively meet the FBI’s priorities.

Upon completion of that task, a Phase 2 reorganization plan will be proposed that details changes at the divisional and office levels of FBIHQ. At the same time, the Director and his management team will work toward refocusing the FBI’s mission, enhancing the skill sets of FBI employees, and changing the culture consistent with the fundamental changes being made.

The major elements of the proposed Phase 1 reorganization of the upper levels of FBIHQ include:

• Four new Executive Assistant Directors to oversee: counterintelligence and counterterrorism; criminal investigations; investigative coordination; and administration. The establishment of the four Executive Assistant Director positions is in direct response to internal FBI reviews and oversight concerns about the span of control of the Deputy Director. It will also focus increased attention on counterterrorism and provide needed high level attention to management problems.
• Two new divisions to address investigation of computer-facilitated crimes and security.
• The proposed Cybercrime Division, reporting to the Executive Assistant Director for Criminal Investigations, would address criminal investigations of intellectual property, high tech and computer crimes reflecting the increased priority on these types of crimes.
• The proposed Security Division, reporting to the Executive Assistant Director for Administration, would be responsible for ensuring the integrity of FBI employees, contractors, visitors, information systems, and facilities. The FBI has suffered from a number of problems in these areas.
• Four new offices to address significant issues relating to information technology, intelligence, records management, and law enforcement coordination with our state and local partners.
• The proposed Office of Law Enforcement Coordination, reporting to the Executive Assistant Director for Investigative Coordination, would be responsible for improving FBI coordination and information sharing with state and local law enforcement and public safety agencies. This is an area where the FBI can, and must, do a better job.
• The Chief Technology Officer would report directly to the Office of the Director and be responsible for overseeing the implementation of the FBI’s Trilogy project and related information technology projects. Modernization of the FBI’s information technology infrastructure is critical to the ability of the FBI to perform its core investigative missions and must receive top executive attention.
• The Office of Records Management, which would report to the Executive Assistant Director for Administration, would be responsible for modernizing FBI records and knowledge management processes and policies. The FBI currently lacks a dedicated office for information management oversight. Investigators and analysts must have access to, and confidence in, the information gathered during investigations. This has been an area of recurrent problems for the FBI.
• The Intelligence Office, which would report to the Executive Assistant Director for Counterterrorism/ Counterintelligence, would be responsible for overseeing the FBI’s intelligence program. Enhancing the FBI’s intelligence and analytical capabilities is critical to accomplishing the FBI’s prevention mission, particularly in the counterterrorism and counterintelligence areas.
• Finally, the proposed reorganization dissolves the Investigative Services Division and redistributes the functions of that division among other FBIHQ elements.