Category: MIL-OSI

Counterterrorism 

Wray said the evolving nature of the terrorism threat demands stronger bonds between the Bureau and state and local law enforcement agencies.

He explained that lone actors—whether they be jihad-inspired homegrown violent extremists or ideologically or domestic-issue-driven domestic violent extremists—tend to act soon after they’re radicalized. This, combined with the fact that they tend to act alone or with few co-conspirators, doesn’t “leave a whole lot of ‘dots’ for those of law enforcement to connect, or a whole lot of of time for us to connect them,” Wray said.

“And to make matters worse, we often see them using easily-obtainable weapons like a firearm, a knife, a crude IED [improvised explosive device], or even something like a car against ‘soft targets’—which, of course, is just Intelligence-Community-speak for everyday people, living their everyday lives,” he said.

According to Wray, the ability for “angry, disaffected” individuals to find and network with like-minded people on the internet is giving would-be lone actors an unprecedented “sense of community and validation.”

“In a sense, social media serves as a sort of accelerant, facilitating access to propaganda and training materials, and providing a means for recruitment, target selection, incitement, and even operational planning,” he added.

The complexity of this threat underscores the importance of the FBI’s cooperation with local law enforcement, since local partners have an innate understanding of their communities, and thus, are “the eyes and ears in the fight against terrorism.”

Cyber 

Wray also underscored the importance of the Bureau’s Cyber Task Forces, which unite the FBI with state and local partners to combat these threats. He said the FBI aims to train-up more state- and local-level experts, and to better equip the law enforcement to combat cybercrime.

“The cyber threat can’t be adequately addressed without collaboration across all levels of law enforcement, which is why we’ve set up Cyber Task Forces in all 56 of our field offices, a lot like the Joint Terrorism Task Forces you’re familiar with and that your folks may have been a part of for some time now,” he said. “The task force model allows us to share information more quickly, surge resources where they’re most needed, and collaborate with our partners more effectively.”

Task forces also let teammates exchange expertise and expand their cybersecurity skillsets, which proves especially important in the fight against what Wray called “‘middle-market’ cybercrime.” He defined this as cybercrime that demands the Bureau’s “specialized knowledge, training, and skills” to investigate, but that doesn’t “meet the threshold for federal prosecution.” By working side-by-side with the Bureau’s cyber experts on these kinds of cases, he said, state and local partners can learn from them and bring back lessons learned to their home law enforcement departments.

NIBRS Reporting 

The FBI has made significant strides in expanding National Incident-Based Reporting System (or NIBRS) participation—with all 50 states and Guam now NIBRS-certified, Wray said.

But he said more law enforcement agencies need to share data with the FBI via NIBRS to keep Bureau crime reporting relevant and useful.

“NIBRS helps answer a lot of questions—about individual incidents, about trends, about offender relationships, and a whole lot more,” Wray said. “It can also help us determine where best to deploy our already-stretched and -scarce resources. I know I don’t need to tell this group that law enforcement resources and manpower are not infinite. But armed with data, we’ve got a much better idea of where our resources are needed the most.”

Wray acknowledged that getting started with NIBRS reporting can be time- and resource-intensive but noted that the FBI can help law enforcement agencies make this shift.

At the end of the day, he said, NIBRS participation isn’t only about the Bureau—it benefits the entire U.S. law enforcement community.

“Ultimately, by contributing data through NIBRS, you’re not just helping us,” he said. “You’re helping and supporting every other chief and sheriff across the country, and all the citizens they serve.”

Preventing Law Enforcement Officer Suicides 

Wray tasked the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division to stand up the Law Enforcement Suicide Data Collection, and the Bureau began collecting this data in 2022. But only 22 agencies reported data, he said.

“This is a problem we’re going to need a lot more data on if we’re going to really understand and change what’s happening in our profession,” he said. “So, I would urge every department here  to participate and to help spread the message about our law enforcement suicide repository. The information that we glean and share could literally save lives.”

Director Wray noted that during a time when other law enforcement agencies have struggled to recruit and retain employees, the FBI continues to attract applicants in near-record numbers and maintain a low attrition rate among special agents. These applicants and employees share a commitment to public service and a willingness to put others before themselves, he said. 

Director Wray also addressed criticism of FBI leadership. “Today’s FBI leaders reflect the best of this organization,” Director Wray said. “An organization that’s made up of 38,000 men and women who are patriots, professionals, and dedicated public servants.”  

Speaking about the FBI’s leadership team, Director Wray noted that the top eight leaders in the Bureau—none of whom is a political appointee—have worked in 21 different field offices and have a combined 130 years of field experience. Prior to joining the FBI, they have served in the Air Force, the Army, the Marines, as well as in state and local law enforcement. 

Among the topics Director Wray was asked about during the lengthy hearing were: 

FBI community outreach specialists serve as ambassadors for the FBI. They forge partnerships with local, state, and national nonprofits, community groups, businesses, and academia to strengthen the Bureau’s relationship with the people it serves; and support our mission to protect the nation and uphold the Constitution. 

They accomplish this by researching the things that matter to the people they serve and traveling to literally—and figuratively—meet community members where they’re at.  

But outreach specialists also cultivate these relationships by inviting members of the public inside the world of the Bureau through the FBI’s Teen Academy and Citizens Academy programs. These selective programs give outstanding young people and adult community leaders, respectively, crash-courses in all-things FBI.  

Some program alumni are so moved by their experiences that they pursue careers with the Bureau. Two such individuals—Teen Academy graduate Bella Crepeaux and Citizens Academy graduate Jay Mroszczak—are now paying it forward as the next generation of FBI community outreach specialists.  

From serving his country to serving his community

Long before he became an official ambassador for the FBI Chicago Field Office, Jay Mroszczak was an Army soldier who aspired to become a special agent.

“As a matter of fact, when I was still on active duty in the Army with about 16 years of service in, I put in a packet for special agent,” he said, noting that he made it all the way through the application process. However, he decided not to pursue the job and instead focused on his military career.

Years later, that calling found him again when his friends nominated the retired Army veteran to attend a Citizens Academy at the FBI Kansas City Field Office. Jay might’ve hung up his uniform by the time he was nominated to attend the FBI Kansas City Citizens Academy, but he was by no means finished giving back to his country and community.

Jay recalled being astounded by the professionalism of the FBI personnel who addressed him and his classmates each week.

“They were personable,” he said. “They never acted like we were an imposition on their time when questions were asked and they had to stay late.”

He especially loved the academy’s range day, when participants meet FBI firearms instructors and SWAT team members. “It very much reminded me of the people I worked with in the military,” Jay said.

Jay Mroszczak’s Citizens Academy participation award

His experience with the course was so positive that it inspired him to join the FBI Kansas City Citizens Academy Alumni Association. This group is a local chapter of the FBI National Citizens Academy Alumni Association, an independent nonprofit that partners with the FBI on its outreach efforts.

“The alumni chapters work hand-in-hand with the field offices, and they participate in initiatives and events,” said Tracey Ballinger, a management and program analyst with the FBI’s Community Relations Unit, which oversees the Bureau’s Citizens Academy program. “And at the end of the day, they want to help further the mission of the FBI.”

Jay went on to become an officer with the Kansas City chapter before joining the National Citizens Academy Alumni Association’s board of directors. Then, “the opportunity came to go back to work for the federal government again, and I was putting in several applications to the FBI,” he said. He was soon invited to interview for a community outreach specialist position in Chicago.

The opportunity would capitalize on his passion for working with people—and seemed like fun, he said. His experience with the Citizens Academy program and its alumni network and his familiarity with the outreach specialist job also informed his decision to take the job.

“I just felt like I had a very good working knowledge of what I was getting into,” he said.

To his day, he said, he works to emulate the example of the community outreach specialist who steered his own Citizens Academy experience. “She was just a benchmark of what an outreach specialist should be,” Jay said, noting that he works to bring that same energy and hunger for learning when he works on programming for FBI Chicago.

Karla (Karlita) Carolina Rodriguez had just turned 7 years old when she disappeared on October 20, 1999, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Karla was missing from school that day and was last seen in the evening by a friend in her neighborhood. Unfortunately, she has never returned home.

Karla is one of dozens of missing children the FBI is working to bring home. Every year on National Missing Children’s Day, we reaffirm our commitment to investigating these cases and finding children who have been reported kidnapped or missing, and we continue to encourage parents, caregivers, and others to make child safety a priority.

“We as law enforcement never forget these children and never stop looking for them until we find out what happened to them and bring those responsible for doing any harm to them to justice,” said Todd Tumbleson, a criminal investigator at the Nevada Attorney General’s Office and an FBI Task Force officer on the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force who has been investigating Karla’s case. “They and their families deserve nothing less than this.”

The FBI’s Kidnappings and Missing Persons list includes entries for Karla and other missing children. Please take a moment to review the list—and if you recognize anyone or have any information in a case, contact the FBI or local law enforcement or submit a tip online. No detail is too small.

“The public often knows something they think is not important but which we in law enforcement find very important,” said Tumbleson. “Sometimes when people hear about the case, it brings back memories of things a suspect said or things the witness saw that might help to locate a child. Any information the public has should be shared with those investigating the case.”