<http://www.columbian.com/opinion/news/09192007news199902.cfm> http://www.columbian.com/opinion/news/09192007news199902.cfm In our view: FBI Strength Slips Wednesday, September 19, 2007 Vancouver situation exemplifies dramatic but quiet reduction in number of agents Good for Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who this week brought new attention to the fact that Washington state is vastly underserved by the FBI. She is pressing the agency's director, Robert Mueller, to do something about it. A drop in FBI staffing coupled with the emphasis on anti-terrorism has meant a diminution in fighting identity theft, financial scams, civil rights violations, etc. And, The Columbian learned Tuesday, FBI staffing here has dropped off considerably. Just five years ago there were three full-time agents working out of Vancouver. Now, it appears there is just one. Two sources knowledgeable about FBI staffing levels here told us Tuesday that the number of agents in Vancouver dropped from two to one early this month when agent Greg Simpson was transferred out. An earlier vacancy created by a Dec. 31, 2002, retirement here has never been filled, they said. Spokeswoman Robbie Burroughs in the Seattle FBI office declined to discuss FBI strength in the state, but said, "Sometimes people are transferred and it takes a while to fill vacancies." Murray on Monday wrote a letter to FBI Director Mueller, saying "Washington state ranks well below other states in terms of per capita FBI agents, and this is having a negative effect on the safety and security of our citizens." She said she wanted to "work with you" to increase the number of agents in the state. Citing a Seattle Post-Intelligencer series published in April, Murray said the national FBI average is three agents per every 100,000 people, not including the District of Columbia, Virginia and New York because of their unusually large FBI contingents. But in Washington state, she said, there are only 2.1 agents per 100,000, although in fairness it should be noted that the Portland FBI office has occasionally provided some assistance here. In the anti-terrorism arena alone, a strong case exists for Washington needing more agents. We have seaports, hydroelectric dams and their transmission systems, several military installations, a nuclear reservation and even ferry boats and a Space Needle that have been seen as potential targets. We also have the border with Canada. Murray reminded Mueller that in December 1999 Ahmed Ressam, an Algerian, was arrested by a border guard in Port Angeles after arriving by ferry from Victoria, B.C. He carried 124 pounds of explosives in the trunk of his car and had hopes of seeing in the millennium by bombing Los Angeles International Airport. Take terrorism out of the picture and the situation still is alarming. The P-I reported that in Western Washington the FBI sent 28 white-collar cases to prosecutors in 2005, down 90 percent from 2000. This story has a human face, of course. The newspaper quoted a Bellingham man who lost $500,000 in an investment con. The FBI, he said, was "not responsive to this at all." What has happened, The P-I said, is "the untold story of the Bush administration's massive restructuring of the FBI after the terrorism attacks of 9/11," with 2,400 agents transferred to counterterrorism duties and not replaced in terms of traditional crime fighting. Alluding to The P-I stories, Murray made this point, which deserves underscoring: "While the news articles focus on the staffing in the FBI office in Seattle, the lack of FBI agents makes it difficult to ensure an adequate FBI presence in Southwest Washington and other underserved areas of the state." [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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