Ricin-laced letter sent to Senator Roger Wicker's office

[jimmy olsen]

Never solved that I'm aware of.

They did.  It was some guy who worked at a federal lab in DC.  Bruce something or other.  When the FBI was closing in on him he committed suicide.

I thought that Congress was skeptical and launched another investigation that seemed to clear his name.

[CountDeMoney]

I thought that Congress was skeptical and launched another investigation that seemed to clear his name.

The only governmental organization more stupid than the Famous But Incompetent.  What could happen.

[jimmy olsen]

At least they're famous, that's more than you can say.

[CountDeMoney]

Oooh, burn.  I'm rubber, you're glue.

[OttoVonBismarck]

I thought that Congress was skeptical and launched another investigation that seemed to clear his name.

The only governmental organization more stupid than the Famous But Incompetent.  What could happen.

Have to side with Seedy on this one, while never a LEO type just in my career with DoD and now ICE I can safely say the FBI has a professional reputation worse than the PG County Sheriff's department. There's a neighbor of mine I've chatted with some who has made references to his brother who is an FBI agent sort of in a, "Hey...guess what, my brother is an FBI Agent!" Not realizing that to anyone who knows anything about the FBI on a personal basis they're basically jokes.

They don't have any of the real police type experience of actual police officers and a lot of the cases they successfully "investigate" just involve really stupid people that do things basically begging to be caught. They've promoted a really great image for themselves with all the cop dramas but shows like The Wire give a more accurate idea as to how effective the FBI is at actually investigating crimes. In fact most of the big FBI related cases were never really solved by the FBI. Take the Unabomber for example, he'd still be out there if his own brother hadn't turned him in.

[Razgovory]

I've heard the same thing from one my law enforcement professors.  He said they come in, make local law enforcement do all the work then take the credit.  However, I also know that people are very willing to see errors, incompetence, and stupidity in those they don't like or resent.  I imagine there is a great deal of resentment when the feds come in and take charge, and it wouldn't be an unusual response for those officers to justify their resentment by magnifying the faults of the FBI and deeming them incompetent.

[CountDeMoney]

It's the mystique they fashion for themselves that has carried it all along this time.  But if you've worked with them, interacted with them, you'd find that it's all smoke and mirrors.

Their counterintel people are pretty good, but hell, a lot of them they usually poach from other agencies.  But your average Field Office ground pounding crime fighters?  Morons, stiffs and bureaucrats.  Their only saving grace as an agency is the massive technological and scientific resources backbone they're created for themselves, courtesy of the DOJ's annual budget.

It's a dysfunctional organization with a dysfunctional organizational culture, and it's a culture they've created and and continue to perpetuate, insular and incestuous.  They've set themselves off to the side and above everybody else, and the same morons, stiffs and bureaucrats running the agency keep posting the same "Only Morons, Stiffs and Bureaucrats Need Apply" sign at the academy.

The Feds I've known and dealt with, I'd take DEA, USSS or ATF in a fucking heartbeat over the FBI.  But I'd take a beat cop that knows his shit on the street over all of them in a second.

They have badges and guns, they have the training, they have all the bells and whistles, they attend the seminars.  But they're not really cops.

[Syt]

Are you saying that X-Files was an inaccurate representation of how the FBI works?

[CountDeMoney]

My Blue Heaven is probably the most accurate.

"I hope I get a chance to work undercover sometime."
"Not a chance.  That would require overtime."

[Razgovory]

Maybe Seedy's right, maybe he's not.  I'm just making an observation based on psychology.  People downplay their own faults while at the same time magnify the faults of others.  Maybe the Baltimore police are just fantastic at their jobs and everyone else pales in comparison.  Maybe the FBI's office in Maryland was just shit.  Maybe CdM is resentful of people who make more money then he does.  I don't know.

[CountDeMoney]

Maybe the Baltimore police are just fantastic at their jobs and everyone else pales in comparison.

Hmmm, no. 
I'll take "Incompetent Police Departments" for $400, Alex.

[garbon]

Maybe CdM is resentful of people who make more money then he does.

That'd be...no, I won't go there.

[Ed Anger]

I love the FBI security clearance interviews. Especially when they come around to ask about my neighbors.

[Ed Anger]

Just noticed Seedy's Axis of Evil Sports fans.

[OttoVonBismarck]

Maybe Seedy's right, maybe he's not.  I'm just making an observation based on psychology.  People downplay their own faults while at the same time magnify the faults of others.  Maybe the Baltimore police are just fantastic at their jobs and everyone else pales in comparison.  Maybe the FBI's office in Maryland was just shit.  Maybe CdM is resentful of people who make more money then he does.  I don't know.

Some of what you're saying is based on TV-based knowledge though. In the real world the FBI doesn't show up at a crime scene and say, "we're taking over this crime scene!" When there is clear Federal jurisdiction local police rarely want to create extra work for themselves by working a case that should be Federal, and for cases where local and FBI work together it's generally the case that about the only utility the FBI will provide is their information assets.

The FBI is great at collecting and storing a lot of information, and half-decent at analyzing it, but they aren't really good at anything else to do with police work. Their mission only sort of brushes up against police work anyway, it's more of a pop culture myth that these FBI guys are out there pounding the streets solving whodunnits on a regular basis. Most actual police solve crimes because they know the neighborhood they work in and that makes it very obvious who has committed certain crimes and where to look, and/or basic interviewing. For other cases where there is no one knowledgeable about what happened to talk with, the police don't know anything about the victims or potential perpetrators, the truth is the case rarely gets solved. Maybe if there is really obvious physical evidence, but TV shows exaggerate how easy it is to solve a crime with no collectible human-provided information and only trace physical evidence at the scene.

A case like the Boston Marathon bomber, if it gets solved, will most likely be because the criminal fucks up massively or someone turns him in.