The Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI, is the federal government's primary law enforcement agency. You've probably never interacted with the FBI, but the services it provides have a direct impact on your life even if you don't see its agents around. The FBI works to disrupt both actual and potential criminal activity, and, like the military, this agency does a lot of things behind the scenes. They are tasked with keeping Americans safe from terrorist attacks, foreign spies, public corruption, infringement on civil rights, and organized crime.

To protect the American people and uphold the Constitution of the United States.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation Mission Statement

The FBI is responsible for investigating specific type of crimes. It also assists and cooperates with other law enforcement agencies on certain crime-fighting activities, such as fingerprint identification, crime lab examinations, and training. The FBI also gathers and uses intelligence for its own purposes, as well as to help those with which it partners. The FBI works with all law enforcement agencies across the U.S. to help them better understand and stop security threats.

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The FBI's history began at the start of the 20th century. In the early 1900s, the U.S. population was growing exponentially, and people were flocking to the cities in search of opportunity. The high concentration of people in some areas led to increases in crimes, yet there was no good way to increase law enforcement across the country quickly enough to counter the surge. Local communities and even some states had their own police forces, but they had little training, were often politically appointed, and most were paid low wages.

During this time, there were few federal criminal laws on the books, and no centralized federal agency to enforce these laws. Then, on July 26, 1908, Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte (a descendant of Napoleon Bonaparte) appointed an unnamed force of special investigative agents to the Department of Justice. The FBI evolved from this small group.

Unlike the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which has no law enforcement authority and is focused on collecting foreign intelligence, the FBI operates mostly within the United States. It has fifty-six field offices in major U.S. cities and more than 400 resident agencies in smaller cities.