Our guest speaker today was Jamie Arevalo, Supervisory Special Agent for the Los Angeles FBI Field Office.  Agent Arevalo has had an impressive career of dedicated service.  A graduate of UC Berkeley he went on to become an attorney and work for LAPD before joining the FBI.   He currently works at the West Covina office and heads up several units such as the MS-13 gang unit.  He has also been on several assignments out of country including Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico.

The FBI has changed over the years.  The biggest changes have occurred since 911 and today the FBI is primarily “intelligence driven”.  Criminal organizations have become worldwide, multinational entities.  To this end the FBI now has a worldwide presence with offices in 60 different countries.  Locally there are about 50 agents working out of the West Covina office but the FBI utilizes a number of support technicians which include SWAT teams, bomb technicians, linguists etc.

You see the FBI in the movies and TV shows and they sometimes make the headlines as in the  recent case of the capture of Whitey Bulger.  In reality, though, it takes a lot of work and most investigations do not make the headlines.  Every day is different.  There are about 1,000 agents covering the LA Divisions but the FBI cannot do it alone and tries its best to get the help of local citizens.   They also collaborate with other law enforcement agencies.  One of the ways that the FBI can help local partners is by making connections to national and international crime activity.    When the FBI makes an investigation, it turns that information overto the Attorney General for prosecution.

The FBI is actively hiring and they need people with a wide variety of backgrounds including accounting, computers, languages, etc.  The cutoff age for new hires Is 36 and retirement is mandatory at age 57.

Agent Arevalo then said that he would be happy to entertain questions and members were interested in information on the following topics:

Overseas Operations:  Legal attaches work with foreign agencies.  Much of the work is assisting the foreign agencies with US nationals who have committed crimes in other countries.

Los Angeles:  The main focus in Los Angeles centers on counter intelligence and anti-terrorism.

Plain Jane Bank Robber:  The investigation started with sources and witnesses.  The United States is a bit different than some countries that have a video camera on every corner.  There are constitutional protections here and the FBI is primarily source driven.   In this case, Plain Jane was recognized resulting in a number of tips.  These tips were followed up and corroborated which lead to her arrest.  Agent Arevalo said that he could not stress enough, how important the LAPD was in solving this case.

Agencies Sharing Information:  FBI, CIA and DA information is all managed by separate systems.  They do not share the same database(s).  Therefore, various task forces are created that are designed to facilitate the sharing of information in specific areas.

Types of Threats beyond the 911 Airplane Attack:  The FBI is staying 1 step ahead; there have been no subsequent 911’s.  There have been attempts such as the “shoe bomber” and we have seen those in the news.  There has been a move to place tighter control on pharmaceutical products.  We cannot forget the Sarin attacks in Tokyo.

The Cost of Maintaining Offices Overseas:  The FBI’s overseas offices are actually in the US Embassy so there is not the expense of operating separate facilities.  There is a lot of cooperation with the State Department and the work often involves US citizens.  In Guatemala, a US citizen was threatening the President of Guatemala.  So, the Guatemalan police called the FBI.

Gangs:   The FBI is involved in anti-gang activities.  There is a Gang Task Force working with Operation Safe Streets.  The FBI deals with the gang problem across the entire area from Asian Gangs in Orange County, to Narco-Gangs, to local gangs in the San Gabriel Valley.

Foreign Governments with a Police Presence in the US:  None.  Most foreign governments work through INTERPOL.

Conflicts between Local Police and FBI:  It is true that there are conflicts from time to time.  Imagine a drug runner who is being chased from this area, who drives to Palm Springs.  What starts as an FBI investigation then leads to a chase through several jurisdictions including sheriff’s departments, police departments and the highway patrol.  So, we have to figure it out.

Risk of being an FBI Agent:  The FBI does everything to protect its people.  In any investigation they send in overwhelming force.  The purpose is to protect their personnel.

Female Agents and their Roles:  There are certainly female agents.  Agent Arevalo said that approximately 20% of his class at Quantico was female.  And, interestingly, most were better shots than the guys!