FBI
Director Robert S. Mueller, III, today announced that
Executive Assistant Director Kathleen L. McChesney is
retiring from the FBI after 24 years as a Special Agent
to accept a position with the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops.
Ms. McChesney, 51, began her career with the FBI in August
1978 and rose through the ranks as an investigator, supervisor
and manager in both field and Headquarters positions.
She served as Special Agent in Charge of both the Portland,
Ore., and Chicago divisions, and she served as Assistant
Director for FBI training at Quantico, Va. Last December,
Director Mueller appointed Ms. McChesney to the newly-created
position of Executive Assistant Director for Law Enforcement
Services, where she has been responsible for the FBI's
Training, Laboratory, and Criminal Justice Information
Services Divisions, as well as the Office of International
Operations and the Critical Incident Response Group. Mueller
created the position as part of a major reorganization
at the FBI to better address the new challenges of terrorism
and to modernize and streamline the FBI's more traditional
functions, with a focus on improving information sharing
with state and local police.
In May, Ms. McChesney was recognized for her contributions
to law enforcement with a lifetime achievement award by
the National Center for Women and Policing, an organization
that leads efforts to attract women to law enforcement
careers. She is a member of the International Association
of Women Police and the International Association of Chiefs
of Police, and she was the 1987 FBI nominee as Outstanding
Federal Law Enforcement Manager to the Interagency Commission
of Federal Women in Law Enforcement. Ms. McChesney holds
both a Masters degree and a Ph.D. in Public Administration.
"Kathleen
brought to the FBI the personal and professional qualities
that we hold highest," Director Robert S. Mueller
said. "She has distinguished herself and made important
contributions as an innovator and leader in the law enforcement
community, most recently as we have worked to improve
coordination and increase information sharing with our
state and local counterparts. She will be missed."
Mueller has appointed Boston Special Agent in Charge Charles
S. Prouty to fill the post. Mr. Prouty, 57, has broad
experience in law enforcement training and interagency
relations. After joining the FBI in 1973, he was assigned
as an investigator in South Carolina, Virginia and Washington,
D.C. He served as a supervisor of the FBI's Hostage Rescue
Team and also in the violent crimes section at FBI Headquarters.
He headed the Special Operations and Research Unit in
the Training Division, and also helped develop training
policy. Before Boston, he was Special Agent in Charge
of the FBI in Arkansas. Mr. Prouty, a former Navy SEAL
and Vietnam veteran, is a graduate of the Naval Academy
and holds both Masters and law degrees.
"Charlie
is highly qualified to lead Law Enforcement Services and
to build on efforts under way at a critical time in the
FBI's history. His background and experience as an investigator
and manager make him ideally suited in this position to
help us tackle the criminal and counterterrorism challenges
of the 21st century," Mueller said of Prouty.
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