FBI No. 2 reflects on national issues
John Pistole
By Dan Dick | Opinion Editor
The latest installment in the Jerry and Carol Israel Lecture in Public Policy series featured Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation John S. Pistole, who is the bureau’s second-highest-ranking agent. Pistole, a graduate of Anderson University and the Indiana University School of Law, is a 26-year veteran with the FBI.
He has participated in a wide variety of criminal cases during his tenure at the Bureau, including investigations into street level and transnational crime, prostitution and white-collar crime. After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the FBI transformed itself to fulfill a growing need for stronger counterterrorism. In April 2002, Pistole was appointed to the position of deputy assistant director of the Counterterrorism Division.
The following year he was promoted to Assistant Director of the Counterterrorism Division in September, and then to Executive Assistant Director for Counterterrorism and Counterintelligence in December.
In 2004, he was appointed to the position of deputy director of the FBI, with the responsibilities of overseeing operations and investigations, as well as shifting the FBI’s focus towards combating terrorism. He approved memos sent to all divisions of the bureau detailing the treatment of prisoners and detainees. The document clearly states that the FBI does not and will never tolerate obtaining statements through the “use of force, threats, physical abuse, threats of such abuse or severe physical conditions.”
His lecture focused on the social responsibility we own to our nation and to each other.
“To my mind, it is the idea that every company, every organization and every person has a certain responsibility to society, not only to refrain from doing harm but to leave the world a little bit better then you found it,” he said.
He described three features of social responsibility that each person can and will make a difference, is called to serve others and must act with integrity, remaining honest, sincere and credible.
Pistole said the current responsibilities of the FBI are considerable, and despite the addition of counterterrorism to bureau’s duties, he still considers the prevention and investigation of crime a top priority.
According to the FBI’s Web site, over 30,000 gangs exist within the United States, more than 800,000 gang members, spread throughout 250 American cities.
“I think, for most Americans, violent gangs and transnational criminals are a much more significant problem than terrorists, because the criminals affect their daily lives whereas terrorists are rarely impacting lives,” Pistole said.
White collar crime is an additional concern, especially in the current recession. The bureau is actively pursuing perpetrators of mortgage fraud, as well as major corporate and security fraud. Pistole admits that, while the FBI is committed to bringing white collar criminals to justice, violent and more heinous crimes often take priority.
“We’ve got limited resources,” he said. “And so we try to address the worst of the worst.”
