R-6-6

Modern Marvels In The Way Technology Affects The World

Last fall, when I entered the FBI building in San Francisco I immediately knew my future

career had to involve criminal justice. I had to go through a security check where I saw all the

FBI employees take out their guns before entering the building. It was as if I was in a dream,

living my future life. I felt a rush go through me as I took the elevator up to the Teen Academy

on the third floor. As I was riding up the Elevator so many emotions were passing through me;

accomplishment, excitement, intimidation, and thrilled. I had been accepted out of hundreds of

applicants to take part in the Teen Academy for future FBI employees. However this wasnt

originally where my love for the FBI and criminal justice started. It all goes back to family

movie night, where every Sunday evening we got to pick what we would watch. My family

immediately got addicted to Criminal Minds, and so did I. I became addicted to figuring out who

did it, where, when, and what happened. I would always put myself in the special agents shoes

imagining what I would do if I was a real FBI employee.

To this day, I continue to watch and rewatch Criminal Minds, memorizing every

character and the most important episodes and how they always solve the crime. I have always

loved the puzzle behind every single investigation. This is what developed my love for the FBI

and made me realize it was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

During the FBI Teen Academy in San Francisco we learned about all of the different

parts of the FBI. For example the cyber security, gangs, terrorism, and much more. From that day

on, I knew I wanted to become a special agent for the FBI or at least take part in criminal justice.

Everyone always says for the Senior Project Do something you love, something youre super

1
 R-6-6

passionate about so the writing comes easy. That was when I immediately knew I should do

something involving the FBI.

Once I knew I wanted to do something involving the FBI, is when I began to ponder

ideas. I knew I should do something with becoming a special agent, given this is what I would

like to do in my future career one day. While I was working out, one day, my project came to me,

I love working out and I want to become an FBI agent, so for my project I knew I wanted to take

the FBI physical fitness test. I could create a fitness training plan to show the steps on how to

pass the test. With that project in mind I knew I needed a question. There are multiple different

techniques that come with investigating crime scenes and I wanted to know how those

techniques have evolved. However that is only the second part of my question. Another part of

the FBI I wanted to discover is what investigations they chose to investigate, and how over time

their interests change in certain areas. For example violations of human rights issues could have

been more relevant in earlier times, however more recently their focus has been towards

terrorism and acts of terrorism. This is what lead me to my question: How has the FBI evolved

overtime?

The FBI has evolved overtime through advancements in the program itself overtime

along with technological advancements that has improved the FBI's work. By advancements in

the program, I specifically mean cases that have either made the bureau larger and with more

power, and cases that have made the FBI more known across the nation. Overtime the world

experiences events that shape our history. Most people however dont realize that these events

affect much more than just our history, for example the introduction of computers and higher

levels of technology not only increased crime, created new crimes, moreover it assisted the FBI

better in solving crime.

2
 R-6-6

The history of the FBI can be divided into three main eras: The early years, 1908-24,

when the Bureau operated as a detective-style agency; the period 1947-72, when the FBIs

investigative authority expanded and consolidated; and lastly the modern era since 1972,

characterized by the development and use of high-tech and undercover techniques (Theoharis

102) Before the FBI came into existence, the government would borrow Secret Service Agents

up until 1908 when the Justice Department prohibited any such action. This led to the creation of

the FBI. During the early years they were simply building the basis of what the FBI would

become. This involved the controversy over jurisdiction, having to work and cooperate with

private citizens, other detectives, and other agencies that are already in place throughout the U.S.

By the end of the first year, the year 1908, there were only thirty-four men. In the beginning they

went by the name of Bureau of Investigation, and their sole purpose was to conduct any

needed investigations, for example large cases in which simple police divisions couldnt solve on

their own. At first the government had many fears regarding the creation of the FBI Congress

worried a federal investigative division could become a spy agency infringing on the rights

and liberties of Americans (Theoharis 119). To remove this fear Congress created rules which

guaranteed that all agents would be monitored closely and investigations would be limited to

crimes in cases of antitrust, interstate commerce, and miscellaneous other laws not already

investigated by any other federal agency.

A major case that brought to light the discussion of jurisdiction to light, was the official

power to make legal decisions and judgments, was the White Slave Scare. The White Slave

Scare, which erupted in the early 1900s, involved women and girls being transported to larger

cities, and to other states, for purposes of prostitutions (Theoharis 127). After this the

government put into place the Mann Act also known as the White Slave Traffic Act. The Mann

3
 R-6-6

Act is a federal statute that prohibits interstate or foreign transportation of an individual with the

intention of engaging such individual in sexual activity or prostitution. (Legal) This caused an

uproar with states rights conservatives. They believed that prostitution and immorality should

remain a state responsibility. However, progressive reformers prevailed, in fact, the act that led to

Bureau agents being assigned to work outside of Washington D.C, and by this point agent

numbers had already greatly increased. Bureau agents were now stationed around the country,

and the FBI made a major advancement not simply in the jurisdiction, but also in the cases and

work they could take part in.

The increase in jurisdiction and cases also led to increased technology, resulting in many

ethical issues through their work. Multiple complaints over citizen privacy and the targeting of

alleged subversive groups occurred throughout the Hoover Years, 1924-72. People questioned

whether or not the FBI avoided civil rights and were not enforcing the rights of citizens came

into play. FBI director, John Edgar Hoover, was criticized for not protecting activists for human

rights who were challenging segregation and multiple other laws. Hoover only defended himself

by saying The FBIs passivity is due to the lack of federal jurisdiction-no federal laws were

violated-and the FBI was an investigative agency, not a peacekeeping one (Theoharis 201).

Hoover, however, independently authorized many illegal things. For example, Hoover permitted

FBI agents to install hidden microphones to collect intelligence about alleged individuals and

groups. At first the main focus was solely for confined domestic security cases, however rapidly

grew to include civil rights activists and organized crime leaders. His installation soon was

brought to light by General Nicholas Katzenbach. Through multiple discussions on May 20,

1954 directive Brownell, who was at the time the the attorney general, gave Hoover carte

Blanche to bug whomever he chose, by whatever means necessary (Gentry 47). In French carte

4
 R-6-6

blanche means complete and absolute freedom, which essentially gave the FBI complete and

utter power to bug, track, and listen in on people's conversations. However, this discussion was

done confidentially. The other general involved, Howard McGrath, conceded the use of

microphones as long as it was done without trespassing. This meant the FBI had to cut back on

bugs and wiretaps. Since 1942, the FBI had done numerous illegal break-ins and this ban set

back those illegal actions.

However wiring was not the only technological advancement that had a major affect on

the FBI. With the introduction of computers it brought to light a whole new world of crime. In

my first interview I interviewed Mr. Ling who currently works in Menlo Park as a forensic

scientist, however he also originally worked as a special agent and focused on the crimes of

gangs and groups. In our interview Mr. Ling he stated Once the internet came to be in use the

theft of information, banking or personal information, became a popular crime along with

pornography. The internet brought an incredibly large wave of crime that caused the FBI had to

start hiring more agents that could specialize in these certain fields. Which is precisely why my

second interviewee, Cal Dalrymple got hired and he said I got hired at the perfect time, because

I was quitting my job as an accountant and at the time banking fraud was at its peak. The theft

of banking information or even simply banking fraud ranged from the false information of taxes,

to online breaches of bank accounts, credit card information, and social security information,

bugs and viruses on computers, or audio/video theft. Not only are computers did introduce

internet and many technological advancements, which also had to come along with internet

crime and other cyber crimes. The internet was a major deal when it was released, because it

gave people a way to find information much quicker. January 1, 1983, and from there

5
 R-6-6

researchers began to assemble the network of networks that became the modern Internet

(Andrews). The first very large cyber attack did not evolve until 1988.

The Morris worm, one of the first recognised worms to

affect the world's cyber infrastructure - spread around
computers largely in the US. The worm used weaknesses in
the UNIX system Noun 1 and replicated itself regularly. It
slowed down computers to the point of being unusable. The
worm was the work of Robert Morris, he subsequently
became the first person to be convicted under the the US'
computer fraud and abuse act.(Review)

This crime affected many citizens across the US and extremely alerted the FBI that now

there would be many more crimes involving computer security. The peak of internet crime

occurred in 2008. During this year two hundred and sixty-four million dollars had been lost due

to cybercrime. There were over 275,284 complaints that the FBI had to look into. In this

circumstance the main reason for this loss of money was the false advertisement of goods and

services through the internet. In the U.S. last year, California, New York, Florida, Texas, and the

District of Columbia were home to half the perpetrators identified in complaints. The US today

leads the world in the most cyber crime committed each year followed by the United Kingdom.

(2008).

In fact the hiring process of the FBI goes hand in hand with the type of crime that is

popular at the time. This also shows that crime types change over time. For example, in my

second interview with Mr. Dalrymple, described that the Saving and Loans Crisis is essentially

what got him his job at the FBI. The Savings and Loan (S&L) Crisis began under the volatile

interest rate climate of the 1970s, when extensive numbers of depositors removed their money

from the S&L institutions and deposited it in money market funds. This allowed for higher

interest rates, because the funds were not governed by Regulation Q(Staff ). Widespread

corruptions was one of the major effects of this crisis, which also led to multiple frauds cases in

6
 R-6-6

banking loans, taxes, and insurance fraud. Mr. Dalrymple was an accountant at the time which

perfectly put him in place for a job with the FBI. As one can see from this simple example, there

are certain crimes that are at their peak due to changes in the world that have a large impact on

citizens and the community itself. Mr. Dalrymple was immediately put to work analyzing banks

and carefully looking over how they make their money along with personal individuals and

making sure all the information is always correct.

As I stated earlier, Mr. Ling also worked in the field of gangs and groups. He said when

they originally got split up into their squads, groups of people they worked with, they were

split up by ethnicity. He was put in a group with other agents with Chinese, Asian, and

Vietnamese backgrounds. They were working with Chinese and Vietnamese gangs back in the

90s when computers were taking off. Computer chips were really valuable and gangs realized

that chips were important. There were a large series of computer chip robberies in the bay area

and most of those gang members are in jail right now and will probably come out soon.

Computer chips contain a lot of information, in fact all the memory that was stored on the

computer goes onto the computer chip. These gangs would steal these computer chips to receive

all the memory that would be on the computers and use it for their own personal access.

Although the introduction of the internet created a wave of crime it also helped fight

crime. For example, as Mr. Dalrymple stated in our interview In earlier years when agents were

interviewing possible suspects, they would always write down everything by hand or use a

cassette tape to record the interview, and would later on send to a typing pool to transcribe the

information. This used to be a very long method, and there were many errors that could go

along with it. If agents were handwriting their notes, they often could not write down fast enough

what the subject was saying. Furthermore, they could send it to the typing pool and the notes

7
 R-6-6

could not be read, or could be miswritten with false information. The cassette recorder was an

advancement, given they wouldnt have to write anymore, however it would still have to be sent

to the typing pool which could take long. Once computers or even iphones got released it

tremendously improved the interviewing process, given agents could now simply and quickly jot

down any important facts during an interview.

Computers and technology introduced a whole new world of crime, however, it also

helped the FBI combat this crime. For example with increases in technology it expanded the FBI

databases to an extremely large level. Finding out information about suspects has become way

easier with the more common use of social media and technology. They just recently launched a

new product called The UCR Project. The goal of this project is to manage the asset,

development, and integration of a new and improved data collection system. This system is

planned to:

Provide enhanced data management tools for greater efficiency in data

collection along with the processing and maintenance of crime data, to
provide automated processes, to provide tailored reports on an as-needed
basis, and provide a streamlined publication process that will give users
quicker access to the data. (New UCR)

This project is planned to be completed this year, and has great potential. The purpose of this plan

is to put all the data the FBI has gathered overtime and to combine it all under one database. This

displays how far the bureau's use of technology and data has gone over the past few years, given

they need a whole new system to combine all the data they have collected.

Technology really has changed the world of crime and crime solving. The fact that it

simply introduced a whole new world of crime and also gave a way to improve the rate at which

the FBI solves crimes is just a simple glance of what it has done to our world. Ive really learned

that the FBI has gone through a lot of cases overtime, and that many of the larger ones, the way

8
 R-6-6

they handle them can really affect how the bureau is viewed, and can have many positive

advancements for the FBI.

All in all throughout this paper I have learned so much more than I could possibly imagine

about the FBI. I have happily read through books, papers, websites, and articles out of pure

curiosity and want to learn more about this topic. I am so happy I picked a topic I am extremely

passionate about, because I would be excited every time I picked up my laptop and got to learn

more about the FBI. Meeting with special agents Mr. Ling and Cal Dalrymple was also an

extremely interesting time, in which I got to learn personal experience on the job which is always

interesting. Writing this paper has continued my love and hope to one day be a special agent as

well.

Works Cited
Electronic:

Andrews, Evan. "Who invented the internet?" History.com. A&E Television Networks,

18 Dec. 2013. Accessed: 19 Mar. 2017.

Legal, Inc. US. "USLegal." Prostitution. 2003. Accessed: 19 Mar. 2017.

"New UCR Project." FBI. FBI, 08 Sept. 2016. Accessed: 20 Mar. 2017.

Review, NATO. "The history of cyber attacks - a timeline." NATO Review. Dec. 2006.

Accessed: 19 Mar. 2017.

9
 R-6-6

Staff, Investopedia. Savings And Loan Crisis - S&L. Investopedia, 29 July 2015,

www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sl-crisis.asp#ixzz4bstEr5rE. Accessed 21 Mar. 2017.

"2008 Internet Crime Report." FBI. FBI, 30 Mar. 2009. Accessed:19 Mar. 2017.

Primary:

Ling, Brian. Personal Interview. 11 March 2017.

Dalrymple, Cal. Personal Interview. 13 March 2017.

Print:

Gentry, Curt . J. Edgar Hoover: The Man and the Secrets . New York City : W. W. Norton

& Company, 2001. Print.

Theoharis, Athan. The FBI: a comprehensive reference guide. New York: Facts On File,

2000. Print.

10