David Cuthbertson Named SAC El Paso

David Cuthbertson has been named Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the FBI’s El Paso Division. Director Robert S. Mueller, III, appointed him to this position to replace SAC Manuel E. Mora, who is retiring. Most recently, Mr. Cuthbertson served as Deputy Assistant Director of the Criminal Justice Information Services Division.

Mr. Cuthbertson entered on duty with the FBI in September 1988. Upon completion of training at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, Mr. Cuthbertson was assigned to the Cincinnati Division, where he specialized in investigations of motorcycle gangs, violent street gangs, and drug-trafficking organizations. In May 1992, he was transferred to the Dallas Division, where he investigated Mexican drug-trafficking organizations. During his last three years in the Dallas Division, Mr. Cuthbertson was assigned to the Plano, Texas, Resident Agency, where he investigated a variety of matters including white-collar crime, drug trafficking, and violent crime.

In May 1997, Mr. Cuthbertson was promoted to a supervisory position in the Criminal Investigative Division, Drug Section, Latin American Unit. In that capacity, he oversaw a variety of operational, administrative, and liaison matters within the FBI’s Drug Program. He also provided instruction regarding criminal enterprise investigations and task force operations to law enforcement officials at the FBI Academy and in Brazil and Costa Rica. Mr. Cuthbertson served as acting unit chief of the Latin American Unit from January 1999 through May 1999, when he was promoted to serve as field supervisor of the Denver Division’s Metro Gang Task Force. In Denver, Mr. Cuthbertson assumed program coordinator responsibilities for the Organized Crime and Drug programs, and supervised a criminal enterprise squad that was co-located with three multi-agency task forces.

In June 2002, Mr. Cuthbertson was appointed Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Division’s Criminal Enterprise Branch. In this capacity, Mr. Cuthbertson was responsible for the activities of 12 squads, and served as program manager for the Organized Crime, Drug, Criminal Enterprise, and Violent Crime programs. In July 2004, Mr. Cuthbertson was given responsibility for Chicago’s International Terrorism and Domestic Terrorism programs, including leadership of the Joint Terrorism Task Force and oversight of Chicago Division’s counterterrorism preparedness efforts.

Mr. Cuthbertson was designated an Inspector in Place (IIP) in 2003, and served as an IIP during the inspections of the Cleveland, Buffalo, Laboratory, and Philadelphia divisions. During a subsequent temporary duty assignment in the Inspection Division, Mr. Cuthbertson authored portions of the FBI’s five-year strategic plan, 2004-2009.

In August 2005, Mr. Cuthbertson was promoted to Section Chief of the Programs Development Section in the Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division in Clarksburg, West Virginia. In this position, Mr. Cuthbertson oversaw numerous CJIS programs and services, including the National Crime Information Center, Interstate Identification Index, CJIS Advisory Processes, Foreign Fingerprint Exchange Program, CJIS Flyaway Program, and the CJIS Division Intelligence Group.  In December 2006, Mr. Cuthbertson was promoted to Deputy Assistant Director of CJIS’s Policy, Administrative, and Liaison Branch. Mr. Cuthbertson was also responsible for Uniform Crime Reporting, Law Enforcement National Data Exchange, Law Enforcement Online, CJIS budget matters, and the physical infrastructure of the CJIS Division.

Mr. Cuthbertson graduated magna cum laude from William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and economics. He was employed in private industry as a staff accountant and accounting manager prior to joining the FBI.