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September 11 Attacks Changed FBI Focus

October 2009

STANFORD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS — Sept. 11, 2001, was not only a tragic day in U.S. history. It was also a transformative date in the 100-year history of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

FBI Director Robert Mueller, speaking to a student audience on Oct. 8, sketched out just how the venerable agency went from the "track 'em down and cuff 'em" reputation of TV shows to one that plays a key role in counterterrorism not only domestically but also around the world. Mueller, who has ties to the Bay Area as a former U.S. attorney in San Francisco, talked about what he called the “maturation” of the venerable agency and how it has expanded its reach.

His speech was part of the Leadership in Context speaker series sponsored by the Center for Leadership Development at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

"Sept. 11 was a watershed because it drove us to change rather dramatically our focus, our metrics,' Mueller said. The agency was no longer being measured by the number of criminals it brought to justice. Instead, he said, the public and U.S. administration were asking, "Why did the FBI let this happen? And adding: 'Don't let this happen again.'"

Under pressure to change its focus, Mueller and his team quickly assembled a priority plan for the bureau's near-term operations. Fighting domestic counterterrorism was number one, followed by protecting national secrets and stopping cyber crimes. Investigating public corruption and civil rights abuses were made top priorities on the criminal side.

To build up its investigative capabilities on the counterterrorism side, the bureau hired 1,000 more analysts and built up its intelligence directorate in each of its 56 field offices. It also expanded its presence overseas in 61 attaché offices. And it shared what it is known for — data collection and surveillance — with the rest of the intelligence community.

Mueller said today there is a new spirit of cooperation between the FBI and state and local law enforcement agencies, as well as the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency.

"We had to change the presumption that prior to 9/11 we didn't disclose any part of an investigation to anyone else. We had to integrate what we learned with the CIA overseas, so that we had a full picture."

If he looks at what the bureau's priorities are today, he said, they are working. For instance, he said the bureau has quashed four separate attempted terrorist attacks — in Charlotte, N.C.; Springfield, Ill.; Dallas; and one related attempt in Denver and New York. On the criminal side, it has addressed 2,700 cases of white-collar crime — specifically mortgage fraud and 2,500 cases of healthcare fraud. He expects the fraud unit to stay busy given the current economic downturn.

But despite the recent good news about violent crime occurrences being down, Mueller was pessimistic. He said the high unemployment rate means career criminals who've been locked up since the 1990s and may be released soon, will find a dire job market. "These are individuals with no skills other than the skills they picked up in prison, and those are not marketable on the outside. They're coming out to an economy that even if you have a skill set, it's difficult to find a job."

He has "very few illusions violent crime is going to continue on its downward pace," and stressed the need to work with state and local law enforcement to keep it in check.

Finally, Mueller talked a bit about personal lessons learned at the nation's top G-man. Among the toughest, he said, was how to work with geeks. One of his biggest challenges since assuming the director job on Sept. 4, 2001, was updating the information technology system in the bureau. "If you want to update and modernize your business practice and use technology to do it, it's tremendously difficult," he said. Managing the career crime fighters on one hand and the geeks on the other was, in his words, "very difficult."

He also said changing the culture was a big hurdle. "Agents have joined the bureau with the focus of seeing someone go to trial and be convicted. Yes, I want to put people behind bars, and as a prosecutor I found great satisfaction if I got a conviction." But more important to the American public was keeping them from another terror attack.

"After Sept. 11 one of the side effects was the understanding we could not let it happen again. If we had not had the catalyzing event we would not have made the strides to change the culture to understand the priorities and bring everyone in the bureau behind the concept that the American public expects us to stop [another] Sept. 11. We have to do it — even though more often than not it doesn't result in slapping cuffs on somebody and putting him in jail."

— Joyce Routson