[Lurker]

The FBI guys I've met aren't the kind of folks I would let mow my lawn when I was out of town, let alone trust them with a badge and a gun.

The FBI shouldn't be reformed, it should be dismantled.

The only worse federal agency I have ever dealt with was BATF. I flat out refused to work with those incompetent boobs.

L

[Boot Hill]

Sounds like you've had some real unpleasant run ins with FBI, BATF. Have you ever posted your experiences to FR?

--Boot

[caltrop]

When I was in college you had to have either an accounting degree or a law degree to become an FBI agent. It seems to me they should return to that requirement. Along those lines, I'd like to see them eliminate their ability to arrest someone except in their protective capacity. To make any other kind of arrest, I'd disarm the federal agencies (FBI, BATF, etc.) and require them to give the local sheriff or state police the details and ask them to make the arrest. Such a policy would have eliminated the excitment at Ruby Ridge and Waco and made them non-events.

[Rocksalt]

See the thread ATF agent accused of threatening teens with gun"

[archy]

The FBI shouldn't be reformed, it should be dismantled.

The only worse federal agency I have ever dealt with was BATF. I flat out refused to work with those incompetent boobs.

An uncle I respected who spent his own long career in the Secret Service advised me to stay as far away from the field of federal politicized law enforcement as possible, and aside from a term as a deputy sheriff for an old family friend who needed subordinates he could trust and a year spent as a motorcycle cop, I took his advice with no regrets. His observations about untrained and inexperienced FBI *baby agents* with all the ability of naive boy scouts offset by a proportion of others who were outright criminals and goons were not exactly glowing endorsements for that group, and his comments about his fellow Treasury agents of the ATTU [later renamed BATF] who were always accidentally shooting themselves or bystanders weren't much better. If pressed, he'd admit considerable admiration for the investigative determination and thoroughness of the US Postal Service Inspectors and for the uniformed Border Patrol personnel with whom he'd worked. By now, I suspect the political rot has reached proportions to the extent he'd no longer recognize those he once found so worthy.

There always have been some really talented and motivated honest individuals in the ranks of the feds, but as others get the promotions and plum assignments, they learn soon enough what's really expected of them.

-archy-/-