NCJ Number
183910
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 27 Issue: 5 Dated: May 2000 Pages: 84-88
Date Published
May 2000
Length
5 pages
Annotation
The FBI is countering the new breed of terrorist with a newly restructured organization, which is prepared to respond to changing threats from espionage and terrorism.
Abstract
Before the reorganization, the National Security Division of the FBI oversaw all counterterrorism programs, together with the National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC), the national domestic preparedness initiative and the FBI's counterintelligence and counterespionage operation. The buildup of resources for counterterrorism was straining the capacity of the National Security Division to adequately support and oversee both the counterterrorism and counterintelligence/espionage programs. The reorganization assigned NIPC and the recently approved National Domestic Preparedness Office (NDPO) to the new Counterterrorism Division. The intent of this reorganization was to provide a singular focus on both terrorism and national security. On the intelligence side, the FBI's thinking was that the dissemination and analysis of across-the-board intelligence as a stand-alone entity would improve national security. The Investigative Services Division will house a new Information, Analysis, and Assessment Branch, drawing on existing components previously part of the National Security Division and the Criminal Investigative Division. The new branch will provide enhanced analytical capabilities that extend across program lines. The National Security Division will continue to focus on counterintelligence. Under the restructuring, the personnel who have been working in counterterrorism will largely remain the same. Some agents were shifted to the Investigative Services Division, but essentially the restructuring streamlined the FBI and gave division heads more authority by stripping away layers of bureaucracy.