Federal Bureau of Investigations Director Louis Freeh’s edict is printed in clear black letters on a white backboard in William Falls’ office. The FBI’s Top Ten Challenges is no David Letterman list filled with irony and humor, but rather reflects the clear-eyed wistfulness the bureau has adopted since Sept. 11. The list is simple:
• Protect the United States from terrorist attack.
• Protect the United States against foreign intelligence operations.
• Protect the United States against cyber-based attacks and high technology crimes.
• Combat public corruption at all levels.
• Protect civil rights.
• Combat transnational and national criminal organizations.
• Combat major white-collar crime.
• Combat significant violent crime.
• Support federal, state, county, municipal, and international partners.
• Upgrade technology to successfully perform the FBI’s mission.
Fulfilling the list is not simple. Falls, who took over as Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Jacksonville office May 1, has the responsibility of carrying it out locally. With a team of about 140 from Daytona Beach to Pensacola, Falls must see to it that possible terrorism is flushed out before it happens. While the list was created with the entire United States in mind, he said Jacksonville’s needs closely mirror the national picture. The FBI’s local Special Agent in Charge met Tuesday with Daily Record staff writer Glenn Tschimpke to discuss some of the bureau’s top priorities in the coming years.
Question: Much of the Sept. 11 terrorist activity seemed to germinate in Florida. Is that a special focus?
Answer: I’m not sure it’s a hot state, per se. Terrorism can occur anywhere. If anything, Sept. 11 has taught us there are a lot of people who hate what our country represents. I think we’re more and more aware of it. Sept. 11 has certainly changed the focus of the FBI. Before, we were primarily known as an investigative agency in terms of criminal activity — your traditional organized crime, bank robbery and that type of thing. All our investigations were organized around identifying those individuals and bringing them to prosecution. Now, we are more focused on prevention. The director of the FBI has made that the No. 1 mission of the FBI: preventing further terrorism attacks on the United States. In Jacksonville, that’s our similar message. We’re committed and dedicated to ensuring that there won’t be a successful terrorism attack in the Jacksonville area. In changing our focus, we’ve changed our resources. I’m committing more resources to counter-terrorism. Recently, we established a counter- terrorism squad as a single entity. Prevention is their main focus. They’re out in the community. The FBI in Jacksonville and the FBI in general has asked anyone — if they have any information relating to terrorism or suspicious activity — to bring it to our attention. We get a lot of information either from other law enforcement entities, citizens or our other offices around the country and we react to that through surveillances, active interviews or conducting criminal checks. There are a lot of initiatives in terms of interviewing students and things like that.
Q: With the increased emphasis on public feedback, how can the average citizen be assuaged that we’re not approaching the second coming of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, which investigated the infiltration of Communists into the United States in the 1940s and 1950s? Critics of the HUAC charge that it often ensnared innocent people.
A: I’ve heard that. But we have faith in the American people to take a reasonable approach to this. The president has asked the American public to be security conscious and aware of any suspicious activity. Now that’s hard to define, but I think any prudent person, if they see something unusual in their routine — for example, a truck driver or a mail carrier has a general routine and probably observes what goes on in his daily activities. He could probably tell you if something is awry or obviously different than what usually occurs. He would define that maybe as suspicious activity. We would rely on that person’s judgment. If it’s sufficient enough, then maybe it needs to be brought to law enforcement’s attention. We operate under the attorney general’s guidelines. There are certain things that we can do. We have to respect the individual’s Constitutional rights. We can’t violate that authority unless we have a preponderance of evidence that this person could be involved in illegal activities.
Q: What kind of vulnerabilities and advantages does Jacksonville have in terms of terrorism?
A: There are targets of opportunity. There are certain assets in the Jacksonville area that I think would be of key interest to people. Certainly the port, the military installations, some of our state universities are some of the largest and best in the country with a lot of data, computer complexes and things like that. It’s a major north-south thoroughfare. All of those are types of things that we have to be aware of. We have worked with officials from other departments in terms of threat assessment in terms of these facilities. Any time there’s a major event like the Daytona 500 or the July 4th activities, we would identify that event and coordinate with the people at that event, security officials and local law enforcement. We coordinate with those people in terms of preparation and any assistance we can provide, we do that.
Q: Why not target Jacksonville?
A: I think it’s our strong law enforcement deterrent (laughs). I can’t think of any single reason why Jacksonville would not be any more vulnerable than anyone else. Quite frankly, we’ve learned that terrorism could strike anywhere. The terrorists are like any criminal organization. They go where there’s an opportunity. They know certainly that we have beefed up security at our highest targets. Certainly, New York is much more aware and has a lot of resources. Washington, D.C. — the capital — is vulnerable because of the high visibility of the national government, the monuments and things like that. So the terrorists recognize there’s a heightened security around our cities and our institutions that we value. So they could look at places like Jacksonville being maybe a more vulnerable target because there isn’t anything they might consider of a national interest here so there may be less protection here. In their mindset, they may believe that.
Q: Tell me about the new top ten challenges.
A: The FBI has the lead role in counter-terrorism and law enforcement in our country today. Number one: protect the United States from terrorist attacks. Even before Sept. 11, the FBI has over 200 violations that we’re responsible for. Quite frankly, we have to prioritize. We may have the Boy Scout badge emblem counterfeiting or whatever.
Q: That would be number 211?
A: Yes. We’re not going to devote substantial amount of resources to that, of course, even though we would have jurisdiction. Certainly, counter-terrorism is the number one priority. Counter-intelligence coincides with that — people of foreign interest, spies and things like that. And then cyber crime. That’s one that we’re really going to beef up here in Jacksonville. That’s the utilization of computer intrusions and attacks on our infrastructure. Everybody uses computers now.
Q: How could one use a computer to attack an infrastructure?
A: Whether it’s a hacker or an organized group, they’re constantly trying to break into our databanks, whether it be government, universities or businesses to interrupt. If they can make a computer that controls a very large component of our government crash, that’s a threat right there. I think it’s a known fact that before Sept. 11, the number of computer intrusions increased significantly. That’s going to be a serious problem in the future and one that we’re certainly going to build up our resources. Here in Jacksonville, that’s something that we’re really going to be involved with and something that I’m really pushing.
Q: How long will you oversee the Jacksonville office?
A: We serve at the pleasure of the director of the FBI. He appoints and selects all special agents in charge. There are 56 field divisions around the country where a special agent is in charge of them. Our management progression, we usually do a couple of tours back at headquarters. As an SAC, it could be anywhere from two to five years.
Q: Are you from Jacksonville?
A: No. I’m originally from Texas. Certainly, this is the job I wanted in the area of the country I wanted to come to. For me, it’s a great assignment. I haven’t been disappointed. It’s a great office with great personnel. Really, what I’m equally impressed with is the relationship with all the law enforcement entities that I’ve been involved with, certainly at the federal, local, county and state levels.