April 1996


                             New Appointment


                  Director Freeh Appoints Harlin R. McEwen 


               to Head Communications and Technology Branch






On February 20, 1996, FBI Director Louis J. Freeh swore in 
Chief Harlin R. McEwen, of the Ithica, New York Police 
Department, as the head of the Communications and Technology 
Branch of the Bureau's Criminal Justice Information Services  
Division (CJIS). Mr. McEwen, a 38-year veteran of law enforcement,
has the title of Deputy Assistant Director in his new post.


Mr. McEwen's appointment marks the first time in FBI history that 
a local police executive has assumed a leadership role in an FBI 
division. The CJIS Division is directed at the identification 
needs of law enforcement at every level nationwide. 


Mr. McEwen's appointment to the FBI position has been widely 
praised throughout the law enforcement community. The 
International Association of Chiefs of Police described 
Mr. McEwen's longstanding contributions to the IACP as 
"extraordinary...on a variety of highly technical issues that 
have been of great significance to the law enforcement 
community."


Over the next several years, those issues will include 
unprecedented modernization in the areas of fingerprint 
identification and related data, and the collection of uniform 
crime statistics.


Director Freeh cited Mr. McEwen's "exceptional qualifications 
in an area that is so fundamental to effective law enforcement 
and public safety across the country." The Director said that 
Mr. McEwen's long and respected experience at the state and 
local level will bring a "critically needed perspective to 
national criminal justice information programs that are 
undergoing unprecedented technological change."


The CJIS Division serves as the focal point and national
central repository for criminal justice information and 
fingerprint services. The division provides identification, 
fingerprint and information services to local, state, federal, 
and international criminal justice agencies.


Mr. McEwen, 58, a 1973 graduate of the FBI's National Academy, 
began his law enforcement career in 1957 with the Waverly, 
New York, Police Department. Throughout his career he served 
in numerous police departments in New York state. In October 
1985, he was appointed Deputy Commissioner of the New York 
State Division of Criminal Justice Services and Director of the 
Bureau for Municipal police, where he was responsible for 
overseeing the training of all police officers in New York 
state, and the development and implementation of the New York 
State Law Enforcement Agency Accreditation Program.


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