FBI Agent Job Description & Duties
The FBI was instituted in 1908 by the Attorney General [Charles Bonaparte] and was first known as the Bureau of Investigation, which was composed of a small task force in charge of conducting the Department of Justice investigations.
Over the years, crime continues to evolve and new threats are introduced daily, causing the FBI to grow at an exponential rate, and now there are over 35,000 people that work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This growing force constitutes a highly effective intelligence agency, largely due to the extensive amount of diverse job positions and personnel. Since the FBI acts as the primary investigative force of the federal government, it has jurisdiction over more than 300 different categories of federal law - meaning they have their hands full of work. In order to keep up with these large demands, the FBI has employed approximately 14,000 special (field) agents and 22,000 specialized staff members. Depending on your specialty and rank, you may have a completely different job description than other agents working in the bureau.
General FBI Agent Job Descriptions:
- Protect the United States from foreign and domestic threats
- Assist local law enforcement agencies with training and investigations
- Gather and exam evidence in order to solve crimes
- Investigate federal crimes dealing with the following:
- International terrorism
- Espionage
- Cyber-based crime
- Public corruption
- Civil-rights violations
- Organized crime
- White-collar crime
- Bribery
- Copyright infringement
- Bank robbery
- Extortion
- Kidnapping
- Piracy
- Drug-trafficking
- Kidnappings
- Identity theft
- Bomb threats
Specific Duties of Special Agents
- Assist local law enforcement with fingerprint identification
- Conduct ballistics, DNA, and other forensics lab exams
- Interview suspects and witnesses of federal crimes
- Consult with experts in order to gather viable evidence
- Translate foreign documents and conversations
- Negotiate hostage situations
- Examine accounting records for major corporations
- Track and eliminate computer-based scams & threats
- Provide progress reports to supervisors
- Conduct surveillance activities on suspects
- Read and review case files of ongoing investigations
- Pursue fleeing suspects via car, boat, or helicopter
- Arrest and interrogate suspected criminals
- Appear in court to testify
- Serve warrants & subpoenas
- Provide advanced training courses for other law enforcement agencies