Director's Message
Introduction
Mission & Core Values
Organization Chart
FBI Priorities
Transforming the FBI
Section I — FBI Forecast
Section
II — Achieving The Mission
A. Intelligence
B. Counterterrorism
C. Counterintelligence
D. Cyber
E. Public Corruption
F. Civil Rights
G. Transnational/National Criminal Enterprises
H. White Collar Crime
I. Significant Violent Crime
J. Partnerships
Section
III — Human Capital
A. Recruitment and Hiring
B. Training and Development
C. Performance and Reward
D. Discipline
E. Leadership Development & Promotion
Section
IV — Tools
A. Security
B. Information Technology
C. Investigative Technology
D. Criminal Justice Information Services
E. Forensics
F. Records Management
Appendix A — External & Internal
Factors
Appendix B — Stakeholders
Appendix C — Program Evaluation
The FBI Strategic Plan 2004-2009 serves as a high-level road map for the next five years, with strategic goals and objectives that address the mission of the FBI and fulfill the imperatives of the President, the Attorney General, and the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI). This document updates our earlier strategic plan (FBI Strategic Plan 1998-2003) and reflects profound and far-reaching changes to our investigative priorities and business practices since 9/11. The FBI’s efforts to remake and reengineer itself continue and this plan serves as a primary guide to the new realities of the war on terrorism.
The plan reflects these external and internal changes by laying out a new set of priorities and an altered structure for the organization’s goals and objectives. Our reinvigorated strategic planning process, outlined on facing page, translates these goals and objectives into actionable and measurable activities in order to track their progress. Annual implementation plans provide priority actions and measures to incrementally achieve our strategic goals, and completion dates are assigned and tracked to ensure that deadlines are met. Comprehensive program evaluations are conducted to measure whether we have met our goals and objectives. Although this plan improves on its predecessor, we recognize that improvements can still be made and we anticipate annual updates, as the FBI continues to make fundamental changes to its organizational culture and administrative processes.
The plan is divided into four sections. Section I provides an FBI forecast. Section II provides strategic goals, objectives, and priority actions for achieving the mission of the FBI over the next five years. Section III addresses the most important asset of the FBI — its people. Section IV is devoted to the tools we must have to perform our mission effectively and efficiently. Appendices A, B, and C provide information about the external and internal factors, or “drivers,” that affect FBI planning, the stakeholders who provide input into that process, and the program evaluations that address whether programs are operating effectively.
The events of September 11th have forever changed our nation and the FBI. Since that terrible day, the FBI’s overriding priority has been protecting America by preventing further attacks. The FBI has made and will continue to make many significant changes in order to protect America. We have refocused our priorities to enable us to better accomplish our mission and we are making comprehensive changes in the overall structure, organization, and business practices of the FBI to ensure that we excel at everything we do.
Changes are occurring from top to bottom — from reassigning personnel to counterterrorism, to examining our hiring practices, to rethinking the scope and form of internal and external information sharing. FBI Headquarters has been restructured to make it more effective and efficient. We have centralized case management; realigned the workforce to address our priorities; and developed a central body of knowledge available to all field offices and to our partners in the Law Enforcement and Intelligence Communities.
These changes have allowed us to make significant contributions to the war on terrorism. Working with our partners over the past 28 months, we conducted numerous counterterrorism investigations, resulting in more than one thousand arrests and hundreds of convictions or pre-trial diversions. We broke up the Lackawanna Six, dismantled the Portland Seven, and put wouldbe shoe bomber Richard Reid behind bars. We investigated thousands of cyber intrusions, with one case involving a global criminal network reaching as far as the South Pole. We strengthened counterintelligence operations, placed counterintelligence squads in almost every field office, and created a
Even as our efforts evolve, the FBI continues to meet its traditional responsibilities to uphold and enforce federal criminal laws of the United States. We pursued major corporate fraud schemes that accounted for billions of dollars in losses; the “collar bomb” incident in Pennsylvania; and sniper shootings in Maryland, Washington D.C., Virginia, West Virginia, and Ohio. The FBI has had successes against public corruption and continues to aggressively protect civil rights. In one hate crime investigation, a man was sentenced to death for killing a Sikh male in a parking lot.
We continue to improve our technology and are finding better ways to communicate with our federal, state, local, and international partners. To keep us focused on our principles, the FBI amended its core values to place new emphasis on accountability for our actions and leadership through example.
Looking forward, the FBI’s greatest challenges will be to further improve its intelligence capabilities and strengthen its information technology infrastructure. The FBI will continue to develop its talents through ongoing training, and through the recruitment and hiring of analysts, technology experts, and individuals with language skills. The FBI’s international presence will continue to grow, and we will continue our tradition of excellence in carrying out all of our responsibilities overseas and at home.
The FBI’s 2004–2009 strategic plan serves as a high-level road map for the FBI to achieve its mission. While the strategic plan provides clear goals and objectives, it also includes the flexibility necessary to adjust quickly to evolving threats. Since the FBI’s inception, the nation has turned to it to address the most significant threats, and the FBI has always responded. The strength of the FBI has been, and will always be, its people. The skill, determination, and sacrifice of the men and women of the FBI are outstanding, and I am extremely proud to serve as the Director of this extraordinary organization.
FBI Headquarters centrally manages and directs worldwide FBI operations and investigations. FBI Headquarters is comprised of four operational divisions (Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence, Cyber, and Criminal Investigative) plus 10 divisions and 10 offices that support operational and administrative functions. The intelligence and investigative work of the FBI is conducted out of 56 field offices and 400 satellite offices (referred to as resident agencies) that report to the field offices. The FBI also has 45 offices located outside the United States — referred to as Legal Attaché offices or Legats — that support investigations and operations around the world.
The FBI’s principal mission is to defend the security of the United States and within that mission there are priority focus areas. On May 29, 2002, Director Mueller announced the priorities of the FBI to clearly articulate to the American public, our Law Enforcement and Intelligence Community partners, and the employees of the FBI, the manner in which the FBI will address its wide range of responsibilities.
The order of the listed priorities is determined by the interaction of three factors: (1) the significance of the threat to the security of the United States as expressed by the President in National Security Presidential Decision Directive 26; (2) the priority the American public places on various threats; and (3) the degree to which addressing the threat falls most exclusively within the FBI’s jurisdiction.
The FBI has a broad mission with varied and competing challenges. By weighing and evaluating the above factors, the top priorities of the FBI become clear.
Director Mueller has established ten priorities. The first eight are listed in order of priority. The final points (collaborative partnerships and technology improvement) are key enabling functions that are of such importance they merit inclusion. The priorities are:
1. Protect the United States from terrorist attack;
2. Protect the United States against foreign intelligence operations and espionage;
3. Protect the United States against cyber-based attacks and high-technology crimes;
4. Combat public corruption at all levels;
5. Protect civil rights;
6. Combat transnational and national criminal organizations and enterprises;
7. Combat major white collar crime;
8. Combat significant violent crime;
9. Support federal, state, local, and international partners;
10. Upgrade technology to successfully perform the FBI’s mission.
By stating our priorities, we discipline our actions. We now staff and work high priority matters before lower ones. Support processes, including hiring and technological competence, serve our highest priorities first.
The current and foreseeable threat environment requires the FBI to evolve constantly. The FBI has a proud history of adapting to changing threat environments. After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the FBI once again faced the need to adapt. Since then, new leadership, organizational structure, priorities, technologies, resources, and enabling legislation have better positioned the FBI to fulfill its vital mission in a changing world.
Those who wish to sow terror, however, are determined and adaptable and should never be underestimated. Hence, the FBI must continue to evolve to address tomorrow’s threats. Implementing an enterprise-wide intelligence capability second to none and modernizing our information technology systems are critical to the FBI’s transformation.
To achieve dramatic improvements, the FBI adopted the “reengineering” method which has been a successful business practice in the private sector for decades. In 1994, this method gained momentum in the federal government as a result of a General Accounting Office (GAO) Symposium which concluded that “reengineering” can enable government agencies to reduce costs and improve business processes. As shown in the chart below, GAO’s analysis identified nine key practices that resulted in the transformation of businesses into high performing organization.
The foundation of strategic planning is long-term forecasting. The FBI’s enterprise-wide Intelligence Program provides robust forecasting capability, which integrates external and internal data to forecast global drivers and their operational impacts. Those impacts, in turn, are translated into organizational goals and objectives. The FBI identifies global “drivers” — broad factors that can directly or indirectly cause changes in the future threat environment. These “drivers” correlate in many ways to categories or “dimensions” used in a variety of U.S. and foreign forecasts. The FBI forecast process focuses on seven global drivers, outlined below and discussed in more detail in Appendix A. From those drivers, we identify probable results, as well as less probable results caused by “shocks” — high impact, low probability events. The results are then assessed for their implications on the FBI mission and its strategic planning process. From those implications, a list of operational impacts, as well as organizational and recruiting consequences, is produced.
The most notable operational impacts and organizational consequences related to each “driver” identified by the FBI are:
(1) Global and domestic demographic changes
global — more operations abroad; need increased intelligence from within immigrant communities; wider variety of linguists required
(2) Communications revolution
(3) Global economic changes
(4) Rising belief in non-material values abroad
(5) Technological revolutions
(6) Revolutions in security technology and practice
(7) Changing role of state and law
The FBI forecasts that sub-national and non-governmental entities will play an increasing role in world affairs for years to come, presenting new “asymmetric” threats to the United States. Although the United States will continue to occupy a position of economic and political leadership — and although other governments will also continue to be important actors on the world stage — terrorist groups, criminal enterprises, and other non-state actors will assume an increasing role in international affairs. Nation states and their governments will exercise decreasing control over the flow of information, resources, technology, services, and people.
Globalization and the trend of an increasingly networked world economy will become more pronounced within the next five years. The global economy will stabilize some regions, but widening economic divides are likely to make areas, groups, and nations that are left behind breeding grounds for unrest, violence, and terrorism. As corporate, financial, and nationality definitions and structures become more complex and global, the distinction between foreign and domestic entities will increasingly blur. This will lead to further globalization and networking of criminal elements, directly threatening the security of the United States.
Most experts believe that technological innovation will have the most profound impact on the collective ability of the federal, state, and local governments to protect the United States. Advances in information technology, as well as other scientific and technical areas, have created the most significant global transformation since the Industrial Revolution. These advances allow terrorists, disaffected states, weapons proliferators, criminal enterprises, drug traffickers, and other threat enterprises easier and cheaper access to weapons technology. Technological advances will also provide terrorists and others with the potential to stay ahead of law enforcement countermeasures. For example, it will be easier and cheaper for small groups or individuals to acquire designer chemical or biological warfare agents, and correspondingly more difficult for forensic experts to trace an agent to a specific country, company, or group.
In the 21st Century, with the ready availability of international travel and telecommunications, neither crime nor terrorism confines itself territorially. Nor do criminals or terrorists restrict themselves, in conformance with the structure of our laws, wholly to one bad act or the other. Instead, they enter into alliances of opportunity as they arise; terrorists commit crimes and, for the right price or reason, criminals assist terrorists. Today’s threats cross geographic and political boundaries with impunity; and do not fall solely into a single category of our law. To meet these threats, we need an even more tightly integrated intelligence cycle. We must have extraordinary receptors for changes in threats and the ability to make immediate corrections in our priorities and focus to address those changes. And, we must recognize that alliances with others in law enforcement, at home and abroad, are absolutely essential.
Counterterrorism Forecast: Terrorism is the most significant threat to our national security. In the international terrorism arena, over the next five years, we believe the number of state-sponsored terrorist organizations will continue to decline, but privately-sponsored terrorist groups will increase in number. However, the terrorist groups will increasingly cooperate with one another to achieve desired ends against common enemies. These alliances will be of limited duration, but such “ loose associations” will challenge our ability to identify specific threats. Al-Qaeda and its affiliates will remain the most significant threat over the next five years.
The global Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) threat to the United States and its interests is expected to increase significantly in the near term. We expect terrorists to exploit criminal organizations to develop and procure WMD capabilities. Globalization will make it easier to transfer both WMD materiel and expertise throughout the world. The basic science and technologies necessary to produce WMD will be increasingly well understood. Similarly, raw materials will be more available and easier to obtain.
Violence by domestic terrorists will continue to present a threat to the United States over the next five years. The number of traditional left wing terrorist groups, typically advocating the overthrow of the U.S. Government because of the perceived growth of capitalism and imperialism, have diminished in recent years. However, new groups have emerged that may pose an increasing threat. Right wing extremists, espousing anti-government or racist sentiment, will pose a threat because of their continuing collection of weapons and explosives coupled with their propensity for violence. The most significant domestic terrorism threat over the next five years will be the lone actor, or “lone wolf” terrorist. They typically draw ideological inspiration from formal terrorist organizations, but operate on the fringes of those movements. Despite their ad hoc nature and generally limited resources, they can mount high-profile, extremely destructive attacks, and their operational planning is often difficult to detect.
Counterintelligence Forecast: The threat from countries which consider the United States their primary intelligence target, adversary or threat either will continue at present levels or likely increase. The most desirable U.S. targets will be political and military plans and intentions; technology; and economic institutions, both governmental and non-governmental. Foreign intelligence services increasingly will target and recruit U.S. travelers abroad and will use non-official collection platforms, including increasing numbers of students, visitors, delegations, and emigres within the United States. Foreign intelligence activities are likely to be increasingly characterized by the use of sophisticated and secure communication technology to handle recruited agents and to be more likely than in the past to occur almost anywhere in the United States.
Cyber Forecast: Cyber threats confronting the United States emerge from two distinct areas: (1) traditional criminal activity that has migrated to the Internet, such as fraud, identity theft, child pornography, and trade secret theft; and (2) Internet facilitated activity, such as terrorist attacks, foreign intelligence threats, and criminal intrusions into public and private networks for disruption or theft. The vulnerability of the United States to such activity is rapidly escalating as its economy and critical infrastructures become increasingly reliant on interdependent computer networks and the World Wide Web. The cyber threat to our national security stems from two groups: (1) non-state actors such as terrorist groups and hackers; and (2) foreign governments that have developed cyber espionage or information warfare programs to target U.S. networks. The number of foreign governments and non-state actors exploiting computer networks and developing their cyber capabilities is on the rise.
Public Corruption Forecast: The corruption of local, state, and federally elected, appointed, or contracted officials undermines our democratic institutions and sometimes threatens public safety and national security. The root of corruption is greed, and over the next five years there will be increased government spending and increased opportunities for government officials to violate the public trust. As our nation tightens security at our land borders and our air and sea ports to prevent terrorism — terrorists, international drug enterprises, and alien smuggling rings will increasingly seek to recruit U.S. law enforcement officials to further their operations, thereby undermining our security at the borders. Likewise, as additional controls are established to minimize identity fraud, there will be an increase in demand by criminal enterprises to corrupt government officials who issue identification documents.
Civil Rights Forecast: Most hate crimes statistics have remained relatively constant, but there have been specific areas of increased activity. From 1996 to 1998, there was a spike in arson against religious properties. Since 9/11, there has been an unprecedented number of hate crimes directed against Muslim, Sikh, and Arab-American individuals and institutions. In the event of another terrorist attack on U.S. soil or against U.S. interests abroad, we anticipate similar spikes of activity directed against persons who share actual or perceived ethnicity, religion, or national origin with the terrorists. In addition, the number of crimes under “Color of Law” statutes is expected to increase in direct proportion to the increase in the number of law enforcement and correctional officers over the next decade.
Transnational/National Crime Forecast: Drug trafficking poses a continuing threat, responsible for an estimated 50,000 drug-related deaths and $110 billion in social costs per year. In producer countries, the trade funnels both money and power to criminal elements and illegally armed groups, and provides a breeding ground for corruption, violence, environmental degradation, and political and economic instability. Gang-related violence will continue as long as the demand for illicit drugs remains or increases, and drives gangs to battle for retail drug distribution markets, especially in large user-based metropolitan areas. Human trafficking organizations have increased dramatically in recent years, and will likely continue to do so over the next five years. Worldwide human smuggling is estimated to be a $7 billion industry, bringing hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants to the United States each year. Increasingly, terrorists and their supporters will use alien smuggling networks to circumvent increased border security measures implemented since 9/11. International criminal groups will grow and form new partnerships and alliances due largely to globalization. It is likely that criminal groups will expand their intelligence capabilities to thwart law enforcement investigations.
White Collar Crime Forecast: Major white collar crime will impact the U.S. economy over the next five years. Corporate fraud has undermined the public’s confidence in American business institutions, and the aggressive investigation and prosecution of major corporate fraud will be a key factor in restoring long-term confidence in our business leaders. Money laundering poses a growing threat to national security. Advances in technology and the globalization of financial institutions will allow terrorist and criminal organizations to more easily influence economic, social, and political institutions. Money launderers and those engaging in financial institution fraud will increasingly use sophisticated computer technology, offshore banking, and complex financial mechanisms to facilitate their criminal activity and hide illicit proceeds. An increase in government procurement from industry over the next five years will create opportunities for major fraud. Health care fraud is expected to increase dramatically over the next decade as the aging of the U.S. population drives increases in private health care and Medicare spending.
Violent Crimes Forecast: General violent crime rates have significantly decreased over the last five years (1997-2002); however, murders have increased over the last three years (1999-2002). Additionally, within the first six months of 2003, murder rates in the northeast United States continued to rise. New York, Newark, Philadelphia, and Baltimore all had significantly more murders compared to the same period in 2002. Major violent incident crimes, such as sniper murders and child abductions will continue. These crimes paralyze whole communities and stretch local law enforcement resources often for long periods of time. The widespread publicity associated with sniper murders may produce imitators. The problem of organized child prostitution will continue to increase as criminal enterprises victimize juveniles to meet increasing demands.
SECTION II: ACHIEVING the MISSION
To achieve its mission, the FBI must strengthen three inextricably linked core functions: intelligence, investigations, and partnerships. A robust national Intelligence Program ensures that all critical information is identified, collected, evaluated, analyzed, and disseminated to the widest extent possible. Investigations are the means by which the FBI proactively collects intelligence and evidence in a manner that protects civil liberties. Partnerships are essential if the FBI is to effectively address evolving threats that are too complex or multi-jurisdictional for one agency to handle alone. To achieve its vital mission, the FBI is dependent upon the goodwill, cooperation, and expertise of our local, state, federal, and international partners.
- Strategic Goal
Establish an enterprise-wide intelligence capability that optimally positions the FBI to meet current and emerging national security and criminal threats.
- Situation
Intelligence is more important than ever in today’s evolving threat environment. Having the right information at the right time is essential to protecting our nation. The FBI has always had outstanding intelligence collection capabilities. Intelligence is a core competency that is organic to the FBI’s investigative mission and is embedded in Headquarters’ divisions, field offices, and Legats as an enabling function. The FBI’s many successes in addressing seemingly intractable criminal and terrorist organizations such as La Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian Mafia, Russian Organized Crime, Fuerzas Armadas de Liberacion Nacional (FALN), and the Weathermen were directly attributable to an extensive intelligence base and a proactive posture. However, a changed threat requires a new approach.
The FBI has a mandate from the President, Congress, the Attorney General, and the DCI to protect national security by producing intelligence in support of its own investigative mission, national intelligence priorities, and the needs of other customers. The FBI must serve the American people with an enterprise-wide Intelligence Program that effectively uses investigations to serve national security, homeland security, and law enforcement purposes, that meets external needs for FBI information and analysis, and that protects civil liberties.
The FBI has already made substantial progress in establishing a preeminent national Intelligence Program. The Director elevated intelligence collection, analysis, production, and dissemination to a level equal to that of our traditional Investigative Programs. He established an Executive Assistant Director for Intelligence and selected a 24-year senior intelligence professional to serve in that position. Concepts of operations for each of the intelligence functions have been developed and are currently being implemented. The importance of the FBI’s national Intelligence Program cannot be overstated. In fact, an enterprise-wide intelligence capability is fundamental to the success of each of the FBI’s investigative responsibilities from terrorism to violent crimes.
- Strategic Objectives
IIA.1 Create a common approach to intelligence work through enterprise wide doctrine, policy, and production standards.
The elevation of the FBI’s intelligence function to the program level allowed us to centralize management and create and implement a detailed blueprint for the Intelligence Program. The FBI will uniformly implement, across all programs, its obligation to produce intelligence and share it with our customers. The FBI views its mandate to produce intelligence as one part of a three-pronged set of responsibilities. In addition to producing intelligence, the FBI will also ensure that the constitutional rights of all citizens are protected and that it uses its intelligence resources responsibly. The intelligence work of the FBI is threat-based, but constitutionally bound.
Priority Actions
IIA.2 Fill intelligence gaps by means of a uniformly managed intelligence process.
An intelligence gap is an unanswered question about a terrorism, counterintelligence, cyber, or criminal issue or threat. In essence, it is “knowing what you don’t know.” Requirements are set by the national Intelligence Community, and analysts identify intelligence gaps within that framework. Intelligence gaps will be communicated to investigative program managers at FBI Headquarters and the Office of Intelligence through the submission of program assessments; responses to crime, threat, or capabilities surveys; as components of operational plans or strategies; or in single issue communications. Additionally, requirements managers at FBI Headquarters and in Field Intelligence Groups will maintain a list of existing intelligence gaps for each FBI investigative priority. Intelligence gaps will be incorporated by the Office of Intelligence into FBI-wide requirements and collection plans and strategies to ensure that the intelligence needs of the FBI and those of our national, international, state, and local partners are addressed. Both Headquarters operational entities and Field Intelligence Groups will be tasked with satisfying these intelligence requirements. Requirements that cannot be satisfied within the FBI will be communicated as requests to external agencies.
Priority Actions
IIA.3 Align operations and capabilities with the threat environment.
To carry out its mission, the FBI requires a variety of capabilities or tools, some unique to the FBI and some leveraged from the larger federal, state, and local government and business communities. The FBI uses these capabilities according to their utility in countering emerging threats. When a terrorism, counterintelligence, cyber, or criminal threat is perceived, the FBI strategically employs its limited personnel and financial resources, using the appropriate operational capabilities to counter or eliminate the threat. To ensure maximum preparedness of these capabilities and strategic deployment of its operations, it is imperative that the FBI have an organizationally shared view of the current and future threat and operating environment. This shared view can only be achieved by fully integrating intelligence and investigative components. Investigations must be intelligence driven in order to maximize their effectiveness and impact. Likewise, intelligence components must make full use of information gleaned during investigative activities in order to accurately update and project the future threat and operating environment.
Priority Actions
IIA.4 Support internal and external intelligence customers and partners with corporate information sharing and appropriate support strategies.
The FBI is the nation’s foremost collector of terrorism, counterintelligence, cyber, and criminal activity information. Historically, the challenge has been to share this information effectively within and outside the FBI. The Office of Intelligence serves as the FBI’s primary interface for the dissemination and receipt of intelligence information with the Intelligence Community, Law Enforcement Community, and national and international government agencies. It is charged with establishing systems to ensure timely sharing of intelligence information in a useful format across program lines. It also has final review authority over intelligence products to be disseminated outside the FBI. Dissemination is performed at FBI Headquarters and field offices. Tasks and requests to satisfy intelligence requirements will clearly identify customers who should receive products so that intelligence is disseminated horizontally, as well as vertically.
Priority Actions
- Strategic Goal
Protect the United States from terrorist attack.
- Situation
Terrorism is the most significant national security threat our country faces. The FBI counterterrorism goal is specific and compelling — it must prevent, disrupt, and defeat terrorist operations before attacks occur. Effectively combating this threat presents unique and unprecedented challenges. The terrorists’ target is clear: the United States and its interests both here and abroad. However, terrorist planning, methods, sponsorship, and operational timing are typically obscured by meticulous and compartmentalized planning, the effective use of permeable international borders and often friendly state-sponsors, and the ability to adapt and evolve as efforts against them become effective. Terrorists’ ability to obtain and use WMD materiel and technology for mass casualty attacks must be curtailed. In the international terrorism arena, FBI investigations have revealed an extensive militant Islamic presence in the United States. The activities of these militants are focused principally on fund-raising, recruitment, and training, but they have a sufficiently well structured and well-developed support system that could be activated to carry out operations within the United States and abroad.
The FBI’s greatest concern currently is the threat from al-Qaeda attack cells, which retain the ability to inflict serious harm with little or no warning. These cells maintain strict operational and communications security and minimize contact with militant Islamic groups and mosques in the United States to avoid drawing attention to themselves. Al-Qaeda will continue efforts to acquire and develop various WMD (biological, chemical, radiological, and nuclear) and will continue to favor sensational attacks. Although al-Qaeda is the most lethal of the groups associated with the Sunni jihadist cause, there are numerous other terrorist groups, any one of which could attack U.S. interests. Groups that are committed to jihad and offer al-Qaeda varying degrees of support include: Algerian extremists; Al-Gama’at al-Islamiyya; ‘Asbat al-Ansar; Al-Ittihad al-Islami; Ummah Tameer-E-Nau; The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group; Hizb-e-Islami Gulbideen; and An Nahda. HAMAS and Hizballah also have an extensive presence in the United States, and have the ability to carry out attacks domestically. Up until 9/11, Hizballah had killed more Americans than any other terrorist organization.
The events of 9/11 shifted the FBI’s focus to international terrorist groups operating inside the United States, but not to the exclusion of domestic groups that threaten the safety of our citizens. The threat of domestic terrorists launching large-scale attacks to inflict mass casualties is low compared to that of international terrorist groups, due, in part, to longstanding efforts to disrupt and dismantle these groups. The most significant domestic terrorism threat over the next five years will continue to be the “lone wolf” terrorist. Inspired by the ideologies of formal terrorism groups, their relative anonymity limits law enforcement detection capability and makes prevention extremely difficult, while their ability to mount successful and high profile terrorist events remains — as evidenced by the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City by Timothy McVeigh and bombings by Eric Robert Rudolph at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics, health clinics in Georgia and Alabama, and an alternative lifestyle bar in Atlanta, Georgia.
Right wing domestic terrorism groups will continue to target law enforcement officials and minority groups. Militias will primarily disrupt the personal and financial lives of their targets (government workers and elected officials) by misuse of property claims or liens against personal assets. White supremacists, traditionally the most violent right wing group, have strengthened their recruiting and rhetoric since 9/11.
As left wing terrorism groups regenerate over the next five years, they will again pose a threat to economic and law enforcement targets. Violent protests against the perceived effects of trade globalization on human rights, labor rights, and the environment will continue and likely escalate. Recent examples of left wing “ anarchist movement” activity include large-scale, destructive protests at World
Trade Organization and International Monetary Fund meetings. Special-interest extremism incidents have increased over the last several years and will continue to be problematic, primarily in the violent fringes of animal rights and other social movements. Research laboratories, pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies, and organizations that monitor or lobby against animal rights/“eco-terrorist” groups will be potential victims.
The FBI’s counterterrorism successes to date have been largely determined by its flexibility, leadership, and collaboration with the U.S. Intelligence Community and its foreign and domestic law enforcement partners. Since 9/11, the FBI has:
(1) shifted its counterterrorism culture and organization from reactive to proactive and “threat-based”; (2) developed a nationally-driven, fully integrated Intelligence and Investigative Program; (3) improved information sharing with other federal agencies, state and local governments, and international counterterrorism partners; (4) enhanced operational capabilities within FBI Headquarters and the field; and (5) evaluated lessons learned to better equip the nation in preventing terrorism. The FBI will continue to work closely with its intelligence and law enforcement partners focusing on full disruption of terrorist operations.
The danger of the convergence of terrorism and traditional crime presents obvious and acute dangers. Fortunately, the USA PATRIOT Act enables the FBI and its Intelligence Community partners to address all aspects of the threats posed by terrorist organizations by using both information and the tools of intelligence and criminal investigators to maximize the impact on terrorist organizations and their supporters. The FBI has the unique ability to bring national security and law enforcement efforts under the same roof and to integrate the intricacies of intelligence work with the authority to investigate and arrest terrorist suspects. The FBI is strategically positioned, through its multi-agency Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTFs) located at Headquarters and in every FBI field office, to protect against terrorists by merging international intelligence efforts with the work of local law enforcement first responders.
Similarly, FBI efforts to internationalize its counterterrorism efforts — from Special Agents integrated with the U.S. Military in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Guantanamo Bay, to pursuing investigations initiated in the United States to their logical conclusion overseas — have yielded dramatic results. The FBI will continue to expand its Legal Attaché Program, in which experienced agents are assigned to critically located U.S. Embassies abroad. We will also continue ongoing efforts to shift our international operations from simple liaison to dynamic operational partnerships with host country law enforcement and intelligence counterparts. Domestically, the FBI will continue to work closely with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and community stakeholders in the counterterrorism preparedness arena — to protect the nation’s critical infrastructure from attack; to protect major special events that present an operational opportunity for terrorists; to prepare against the use of WMD materiel and technology within the United States; and to focus on traditional domestic terrorism groups planning criminal acts in attempts to effect political change.
- Strategic Objectives
IIB.1 Prevent terrorist attacks against the United States and its interests.
Limited windows of time exist for penetration of terrorist planning, and terrorists limit their exposure to insulate themselves. The FBI will increase its ability to uncover potential terrorist plots through analysis of information from the Intelligence Community coupled with robust human source reporting in field offices, as well as intelligence derived from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Newly established threat protocols at FBI Headquarters provide rapid warning of threats and threat mitigation for successful disruption by JTTFs. Recognizing that creating an inhospitable terrorist environment within the United States is the best way to prevent attacks, the FBI will enhance local law enforcement first responders’ and stakeholders’ awareness of terrorist profiles and methodology through training and our enterprise-wide Intelligence Program.
Priority Actions
IIB.2 Deny terrorists and their supporters the capacity to plan, organize, and carry out logistical, operational, and support activities.
The FBI will protect the United States from terrorist attack by disrupting terrorists’ ability to conduct an attack. Training, financing, recruiting, logistical support, and pre-attack planning and preparation are all required components of terrorist operations and these interdependencies create vulnerabilities. As the centerpiece of its counterterrorism national strategy, the FBI will focus on exploiting intelligence developed by Special Agents and others working in the United States and overseas, and integrating Intelligence Community products into actionable information targeting those terrorist vulnerabilities.
Priority Actions
IIB.3 Pursue appropriate sanctions against terrorists and their supporters.
Prevention of a terrorist attack requires neutralizing members of a terrorist organization before their actions lead to a terrorism-related prosecution. To successfully neutralize terrorists, the full range of available and appropriate government sanctions must be used.
Priority Actions
IIB.4 Provide incident response and investigative capability.
Just as the terrorists targeting the United States and its interests abroad operate with adaptability and flexibility, so too must the FBI. The FBI maintains a robust incident response capability, as well as an ability to adjust to emerging and evolving circumstances provided by the new threat environment. The FBI is poised to respond immediately to any threat, both domestically and internationally, with all necessary resources to pursue terrorism investigations and intelligence operations with specially trained investigators using a wide array of tools, including state-of-the- art forensics.
Priority Actions
IIB.5 Identify and respond to WMD threats and fully coordinate the investigative response of the U.S. Government to a WMD threat or attack.
Recent findings indicate that terrorist organizations are showing an increasing interest in the acquisition and development of weapons of mass destruction. As proven by the anthrax attacks following the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the plot by Jose Padilla to detonate a radioactive “dirty bomb,” the use of WMD by terrorists is a very real possibility. The FBI must be prepared to mitigate the threat from a WMD attack through training and cooperation with state and local law enforcement partners, as well as federal agencies with homeland security responsibilities.
Priority Actions
- Strategic Goal
Protect the United States against foreign intelligence operations and espionage.
- Situation
The foreign intelligence threat within the United States is far more complex than it has ever been historically. The threat is increasingly asymmetrical insofar as it comes not only from traditional foreign intelligence services but also from non-traditional, non-state actors who operate from decentralized organizations. Intelligence collection is no longer limited to classified national defense information but now includes targeting of the elements of national power, including our national economic interests. Moreover, foreign intelligence tradecraft is increasingly sophisticated and takes full advantage of advances in communications security and the general openness of U.S. society. In short, the foreign intelligence threat is more challenging than ever. In the fall of 2003, the Foreign Counterintelligence Program had investigations involving dozens of countries that focused on hundreds of known or suspected intelligence officers who were assigned to enter or travel within the United States. These investigations spanned all 56 field offices.
In order to meet these challenges, the Foreign Counterintelligence Program is being redesigned to become more nationally focused and directed. Through a more centralized program, the FBI will ensure its ability to establish priorities, be more proactive, and better engage other Intelligence Community agencies so that cooperation in important cases is immediate and seamless. A centralized program will also ensure that infrastructure issues will be consistently addressed and coordinated in order to ensure workforce expertise, that staffing matches the articulated foreign intelligence threat, and that a sufficiently broad and reliable intelligence base is developed. From this foundation, the Foreign Counterintelligence Program will be positioned to achieve its strategic objectives and ultimately reach its goal to prevent harm to the United States through foreign intelligence activity inimical to U.S. interests.
During the past year, the Foreign Counterintelligence Program has been invigorated by the introduction of a new and innovative National Strategy for Counterintelligence and a Program Plan, both of which are proactive in emphasis. At the same time, additional resources were introduced to the program. To enhance counterintelligence workforce expertise, a new four-week Counterintelligence Operations course was developed. All Special Agents assigned to the Counterintelligence Program are required to successfully complete this course. Computer-based distance learning courses are also available to all personnel on a variety of counterintelligence topics. A counterintelligence training course for midlevel and executive managers was also initiated, covering topics in both the tactical and strategic areas of counterintelligence management.
The FBI plays an essential role in the U.S. Government’s counterintelligence efforts and has the responsibility to produce domestic foreign intelligence in support of other members of the Intelligence Community. The FBI also has the responsibility to oversee the integration of domestic law enforcement and intelligence efforts to address intelligence threats in support of DCI imperatives. Our counterintelligence strategy involves centrally-managed, proactive, and nationally-directed initiatives, with prioritized and strategic objectives that support DCI imperatives, overseen by experienced and innovative Headquarters managers.
Success for the Foreign Counterintelligence Program will be reflected in the extent to which we are able to: (1) identify the objectives, the assets, and the operations of foreign intelligence services operating in the United States; (2) disrupt the operations of those foreign intelligence services; and (3) change the behavior of targeted institutions and individuals to minimize opportunities for their exploitation.
- Strategic Objectives
IIC.1 Prevent or neutralize the foreign acquisition of WMD technology or equipment which, if acquired, would constitute immediate danger to the United States.
The devastating results of WMD being successfully used against the United States or its interests are self-evident. Therefore, eliminating the potential for a hostile group or foreign nation to enhance its capability to produce or use WMD is our top counterintelligence priority. We will strive to prevent WMD-related technologies from being openly or clandestinely transferred from the U.S. Government or the private sector to any foreign power, be it nation-state or non-state actor.
Priority Actions
IIC.2 Prevent the penetration of the U.S. Intelligence Community.
The Intelligence Community holds the nation’s most sensitive and essential secrets, and the continued security of our country demands that the FBI help prevent any foreign power from penetrating the Intelligence Community in any manner. The FBI will work closely with its Intelligence Community partners to enhance their ability to protect vital information and will engage in proactive measures to rapidly and aggressively identify and neutralize penetrations.
Priority Actions
IIC.3 Prevent the penetration of U.S. Government entities and contractors.
U.S. Government support of critical national research and development initiatives in a large number of agencies and involving thousands of government contractors must be protected. Compromise of these initiatives by those hostile to the United States would do irreparable harm. The FBI must effectively meet its responsibility to assess the threat against those projects and, with other Intelligence Community agencies, initiate operations to counter the threat.
Priority Actions
IIC.4 Prevent the compromise of Critical National Assets.
Critical National Assets are any information, policies, plans, technologies, or industries that, if stolen, modified, or manipulated by an adversary would seriously threaten U.S. national or economic security. The FBI has a major role in identifying threats to Critical National Assets and assessing their overall vulnerability, especially in the areas of economic espionage, academic research, and private sector research and development.
Priority Actions
IIC.5 Conduct counterintelligence operations focusing on countries that constitute the most significant threat to U.S. strategic objectives.
As the remaining world superpower, the United States is targeted from nearly every corner of the globe. The FBI will focus its counterintelligence resources on those countries and non-state actors having the greatest potential to harm U.S. interests, and will work to gain a greater understanding of the threats they pose. Specifically, the FBI will examine threats related to terrorism, espionage, weapons proliferation, national infrastructure, U.S. Government perception management, and foreign intelligence activities.
Priority Actions
IIC.6 Collect, produce, and disseminate domestic foreign intelligence and counterintelligence.
The FBI is authorized by Executive Order 12333 to collect, produce, and disseminate foreign intelligence and counterintelligence. Both the Executive Order and the National Security Act define “foreign intelligence” to include information about foreign governments, organizations, and persons. Historically, the FBI’s focus has been on counterintelligence collection, and yet the FBI has a tremendous collection capability that can address collection requirements on numerous national intelligence topics that implement the National Intelligence Priorities Framework.
Priority Actions
- Strategic Goal
Protect the United States against cyber-based attacks and high-technology crimes.
- Situation
The cyber threat confronting the United States is rapidly increasing as the number of actors with the tools and abilities to use computers against the United States or its interests is rising. The country’s vulnerability is escalating as the U.S. economy and critical infrastructures become increasingly reliant on interdependent computer networks and the World Wide Web. Large scale computer attacks on our critical infrastructure and economy would have potentially devastating results. Cyber threats fall into two distinct categories: (1) threats affecting national security that emerged with Internet technology, such as cyber terrorism, foreign-based computer intrusions and cyber theft of sensitive data; and (2) traditional criminal activity facilitated by computers and the Internet, such as theft of intellectual property, online sexual exploitation of children, and Internet fraud. In both categories, cyber attacks, intrusions, illicit file sharing, and illegal use of cyber tools are the basic instruments used by perpetrators. Domestic and foreign terrorist organizations, foreign intelligence actors, and criminal enterprises are increasingly using encryption technology to secure their communications and to exercise command and control over operations and people without fear of surveillance. The FBI must be able to identify and penetrate the command and control elements of these organizations and actors.
Recognizing the international aspects and national economic implications of cyber threats, the FBI created a Cyber Division at the headquarters level to manage and direct this nationally-developing program. The rapid evolution of computer technology, coupled with ever-creative techniques used by foreign intelligence actors, terrorists, and criminals, requires FBI investigators and professionals to have highly specialized computer-based skills. The FBI Cyber Program uses a centrally-coordinated strategy to support crucial counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and criminal investigations whenever aggressive technical investigative assistance is required. The Cyber Program also targets major criminal violators with a cyber nexus.
- Strategic Objectives
IID.1 Identify and neutralize the most significant individuals or groups conducting computer intrusions, the dissemination of malicious code, or other computer supported operations.
The FBI must increase its capability to identify and neutralize enterprises and individuals who illegally access computer systems, spread malicious code, or support terrorist or state-sponsored computer operations. The FBI will proactively investigate counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and criminal investigative cyber related threats having the highest probability of threatening national security. To do so requires the FBI to constantly upgrade its skills and technology to meet the evolving threat.
Priority Actions
IID.2 Identify and neutralize operations targeting U.S. intellectual property.
Theft of intellectual property affects U.S. competitiveness and economic viability. U.S. copyright industries and derivative businesses account for more than $433 billion, or nearly six percent of the nation’s economy. Similarly, theft of trade secrets presents a serious economic and security threat. Trade secrets represent some of the most valuable assets within the nation’s corporate community, as much as 85 percent of a company’s value, the loss of which would do irreparable or fatal damage. Yet unlike buildings or products, the “mobility” of trade secrets make them one of the country’s most vulnerable economic assets. Some intellectual property is so singular, or is so closely tied to national security research and development, that its loss to thieves or foreign intelligence services would cause incalculable harm. The FBI will primarily focus its intellectual property investigative efforts to protect those assets representing the greatest potential loss to the country. The FBI will also focus on theft of other proprietary information, particularly computer software, to outpace those targeting this area of our country’s economic success.
Priority Actions
IID.3 Identify and neutralize online predators or groups that sexually exploit and endanger children for personal or financial gain.
Multi-jurisdictional, and often international, sexual exploitation of children strikes at the heart of the country’s most valuable and vulnerable asset — its youth. One in five Internet users in the United States is sexually solicited, usually at home. By 2005, 14 million child Internet users will be solicited, 2.3 million of those aggressively. The FBI will prioritize investigations involving organizations, e-groups or enterprises exploiting children for profit, and identify and neutralize the most significant online child sexual predators by expanding the Innocent Images database. The FBI will also target “travelers” meeting children they have lured online, and those producing, distributing, and possessing child pornography.
Priority Actions
IID.4 Identify and neutralize the most significant perpetrators of Internet fraud.
Organized criminal enterprises using the Internet for fraudulent activities present a significant and increasing criminal threat in the cyber arena. Typically, one or more components of the Internet is used to present fraudulent solicitations to prospective victims, conduct fraudulent transactions, or transmit the proceeds of fraud to financial institutions or others connected with the scheme. This crime problem is international and many schemes originate in the former communist countries of Eastern Europe. E-commerce is growing in all sectors of the U.S. economy, and while most is business-to-business, the dollars associated with e-commerce retail sales are growing exponentially. When Internet users — whether they are businesses or consumers — are crippled by Internet fraud schemes, the viability of e-commerce is compromised, adversely impacting the national economy. The FBI will focus its efforts on dismantling enterprises engaged in significant levels of fraudulent activity, especially those that are national and transnational.
Priority Actions
- Strategic Goal
Reduce the level of public corruption that has an impact in the United States.
- Situation
Public corruption poses the greatest single threat to the credibility of government institutions at all levels. Corruption by those controlling the nation’s ports of entry and handling the issuance of visas and other identity documents opens our country’s borders to potential terrorists and other criminal actors. The serious increase in cases of law enforcement officers forming or supporting drug trafficking enterprises threatens the safety and security of our streets. Corruption within correctional facilities undermines our criminal justice and judicial system. When military contracts involving vital defense and weapons systems become the subject of bribery and kickbacks, national security is directly weakened. Many major metropolitan areas have witnessed the indictment and conviction of public officials for corruption related activity, with public money being misused for private gain. Along with the increasing frequency of all types of corruption, the level of sophistication and complexity of this criminal activity present special challenges.
Corruption allegations are among the most sensitive matters addressed by the FBI. They must be investigated quickly, fairly, and accurately. Using a variety of federal statutes and investigative techniques, the FBI focuses investigations on all levels of government — federal, state, and municipal — and all branches of government — executive, legislative, and judicial. Approximately 50 percent of the FBI’s public corruption investigations involve law enforcement officers, chiefly due to the sheer number of officers in the United States. Similarly, allegations against municipal and state public officials, frequently involving contract or regulatory matters, are regularly investigated because of the large number of such officials. Some of the FBI’s most sensitive and highest impact investigations center on executive and legislative officials, as evidenced by the recent indictment of a former Illinois Governor, a former Texas Attorney General, and a sitting member of Congress. The FBI’s Southwest Border Corruption Initiative will continue to target those officials who, by misuse of their public office, negatively affect commerce between the United States and Mexico, aggravate drug trafficking and violent gang activity, and endanger the security of our nation. Finally, when U.S. businesses bribe foreign officials to illegally compete in the international marketplace, the FBI investigates under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to prevent adverse impact on national security and foreign policy priorities.
In almost every case, greed is the principal motivating factor in public corruption. Over the next five years, government funding will expand, providing increased opportunity for government officials to engage in corruption. Similarly, as the United States increases security at the borders and in the issuance of identification documents, criminal enterprises will expand their recruitment efforts of public and law enforcement officials to bypass the increased security.
- Strategic Objectives
IIE.1 Reduce law enforcement corruption within the United States to increase our country’s public safety and national security.
Recognizing that any corruption within our nation’s law enforcement agencies directly undermines public safety, the FBI aggressively investigates these crimes. The proliferation of drug trafficking enterprises in the past decade has led to increased corruption of public officials along the southwest border of the United States, who facilitate drug trans-shipments into the United States. Corrupt officials also facilitate illegal immigration, and this is expected to increase over the next five years. There is a serious concern that drug and alien smuggling organizations could be used by terrorists to facilitate their entry into the United States, and corrupt officials dramatically increase the success of smuggling operations. The FBI will need to increase its efforts in this arena to minimize the national security implications.
Priority Actions
IIE.2 Reduce public corruption in the country’s federal, state, and local governments and judicial systems to increase public confidence in our nation’s government institutions.
Rapid, fair, and accurate investigation of corruption allegations against federal, state, and local officials will remain an FBI imperative. This is critical because of the sensitive nature of accusations against public officials, coupled with the tremendous loss of public funds and confidence when corruption occurs.
Priority Actions
- Strategic Goal
Prevent the violation of federal civil rights as guaranteed by the U.S Constitution.
- Situation
Federal criminal civil rights statutes protect individuals from hate crimes which interfere with protected activities such as voting, use of public accommodations, and access to housing. World and national events trigger periods when specific groups become targets of increased levels of hate crimes. For example, the 9/11 atrocity and its aftermath made the Arab, Muslim, and Sikh communities in the United States especially vulnerable to a wide range of hate crimes. Other groups that have been, and continue to be targeted are the African-American and Jewish communities because of their clear racial, ethnic, or religious identities. In 2002, nearly 7,500 hate crimes incidents were reported to U.S. law enforcement agencies; nearly one-half were based on race, and the remainder primarily on ethnicity or national origin, religion, sexual orientation, or disability. These cases will dramatically increase if another international terrorist attack against the United States occurs.
Civil rights violations under “Color of Law” occur when those acting under the authority of local, state, or federal laws deprive an individual of rights, privileges, or immunities protected by the U.S. Constitution. The FBI has investigative responsibility for these violations and conducts approximately 1,400 preliminary investigations annually, including those involving allegations against members of state and local law enforcement and non-Department of Justice (DOJ) agencies. It is anticipated that over the next five years, increasing numbers of law enforcement officers will be hired. Although the Law Enforcement Community is overwhelmingly comprised of dedicated professionals, there remains a very small percentage that will violate the Color of Law statutes. As the number of law enforcement personnel increases, so will the number of these violations.
The Involuntary Servitude and Slavery Act also protects individual civil rights and addresses a worldwide crime problem. According to the Department of State, between 18,000 and 20,000 persons, many women and children, are trafficked into the United States each year for involuntary servitude. The FBI investigates violations of the Act, and alarmingly, the number of cases grew over 2,000 percent from 1996 to 2003. The number of humans smuggled into the United States for this purpose will continue to increase over the next five years, and so will the opportunity for criminal enterprises to exploit these individuals.
The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrance (FACE) Act protects individuals seeking to obtain or provide reproductive health care services from force or physical obstruction. Nationwide incidents related to abortion clinics include murder, death threats, assault, arson, burglary, harassing telephone calls, hate mail, and other acts of intimidation. The FBI aggressively investigates violations of this statute, which often have links to domestic terrorists who violently oppose abortion-related services.
Over the next five years, the FBI will likely need to enhance its capacity to investigate crimes involving violation of federal criminal civil rights statutes — laws designed to protect the invaluable civil rights of all persons within the country’s territories.
- Strategic Objectives
IIF.1 Reduce the incidence and adverse impact of hate crimes against at risk groups.
The wave of backlash hate crimes against Muslim, Sikh, and Arab-Americans following 9/11 represents an example of the reactive demands often placed on the FBI. More than 500 hate crimes-related investigations were initiated in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, resulting in more than 160 federal and local prosecutions. The FBI will increase its ability to rapidly respond to hate crimes following triggering events, and expand its outreach to potential victim groups.
Priority Actions
IIF.2 Minimize the occurrence of crimes under the Color of Law statutes.
The overwhelming majority of law enforcement and correctional officers in the United States are dedicated professionals, and through continued training the percentage of Color of Law violations are not expected to increase. However, while the percentage might not increase, the actual number of violations has the potential to expand due, in part, to the increasing numbers and turnover of law enforcement and correctional officers expected in the next decade. In addition, according to DOJ statistics, the number of individuals in U.S prisons and jails surpassed two million in 2003. With these large numbers of officers and inmates, Color of Law violations will likely increase in the next five years.
Priority Actions
IIF.3 Reduce the incidence of Involuntary Servitude and Slavery violations in the United States.
With the drastic increase of the number of Involuntary Servitude and Slavery violations within the last several years, the investigative priority of these crimes within the FBI has risen. Extensive education and training initiatives have been undertaken. The initiatives also focus on the proper handling of these sensitive cases, which are complicated by language barriers, victims’ relocation by their captors to avoid law enforcement contact, captors’ threats of victim deportation, threats of harm to family members in victims’ home countries, and the victims’ mistrust of law enforcement in general.
Priority Actions
IIF.4 Reduce the incidence of FACE Act violations.
While overall criminal incidents against reproductive health care providers have decreased, there has been an increase in bioterrorism threats to them. In 2001 alone, dozens of clinics received hundreds of hoax anthrax letters, disrupting clinic activities and inflicting psychological trauma on clinic staff and patients. Significant federal, state, and local law enforcement resources were expended to restore access to facilities and identify perpetrators. Such cases continue to receive extensive interest from the media and advocates on all sides of abortion rights issues. Within the next five years, it is likely that lone actors will resort to violence against reproductive health service staff. The FBI will continue to address allegations of FACE Act violations rapidly and fairly, without violating lawful demonstrators’ First Amendment rights.
Priority Actions