Intelligence
Philosophy
The mission of the FBI is to protect and defend the United States
against terrorist and foreign intelligence threats, to uphold and
enforce the criminal laws of the United States, and to provide
leadership and criminal justice services to federal, state, municipal,
and international agencies and partners.
To perform its mission, the FBI employs a number of core tools,
including investigative techniques, forensics, information technologies,
and strategic partnerships. Intelligence is also one of those
core tools. As such, intelligence is an integral part of the
FBI’s
investigative mission. It is embedded in the day-to-day work
of the FBI, from the initiation of preliminary investigations
to the
development of FBI-wide investigative strategies.
The tool of intelligence is more important than ever in today’s
threat environment. The threats facing the United States are
evolving. Threats are global, and often emanate from transnational
enterprises
that rely on sophisticated information technology. They transcend
geographic boundaries, as well as the boundaries of authorities
in the U.S. national security infrastructure. In this threat
environment, having the right information at the right time is
essential to
protecting national security.
The FBI has a mandate from Congress, the President, the Attorney
General, and the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to protect
national security by producing intelligence in support of its
own investigative mission, national intelligence priorities,
and the
needs of other customers. The FBI must serve the American people
with an enterprise-wide intelligence program that makes its investigations
most effective for national security, homeland security, and
law enforcement purposes, while meeting external needs for FBI
information
and analysis.
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