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Special-Agent-in-Charge Ellen Knowlton on Monday describes the reorganization of the FBI's Las Vegas office.
Photo by John Gurzinski.
| Tuesday, July 09, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal LIMITED RESOURCES: FBI office shifts focus to counterterrorism Less emphasis on drugs, violent crime By K.C. HOWARD
REVIEW-JOURNAL
A month after director Robert Mueller announced a national reorganization of the FBI, Las Vegas division Special-Agent-in-Charge Ellen Knowlton detailed her plan Monday to shift resources from violent, drug and white-collar crime investigations into counterterrorism efforts. Las Vegas FBI special agent Roy Handley will take over next week as the supervisor of Nevada's Joint Terrorism Task Force, an interagency coalition formed to combat terrorism. He will take the place of Las Vegas Supervisory Agent Dave Staretz, who has supervised Nevada's anti-terrorism efforts along with foreign counterintelligence, espionage and national security issues. Knowlton said she is waiting for additional resources from FBI headquarters to beef up the division's terrorism prevention efforts. Until an undetermined amount of new hires arrive this fall, Knowlton said she will reduce the agency's focus on drug, white-collar and violent crime investigations. "We're not saying these are insignificant problems," she said. "These are problems that other agencies have jurisdiction over." The terrorism task force will draw time and effort from a smorgasbord of federal and state agencies, including Nevada's police and public safety departments. "We have spent a great deal of time to make sure anything we do does not undermine what other agencies are trying to do," Knowlton said. "We're not trying to walk away from any of our other priorities." Las Vegas police officials will transfer several existing positions within the department to the terrorism task force, but Las Vegas police Cmdr. Bill Conger said the transfer will not inhibit the department's ability to do its job. "It will help us on the prevention side," Conger said. "We will be training police officers what to look for and what to tell citizens about questions they have about terrorism." The office also will put in place an interagency coalition for battling computer hackers. Knowlton said she expects the task force to begin work as early as September. The reallocation of resources toward such priorities is happening in FBI divisions nationwide, Knowlton said. "We have to address our top three priorities: terrorism, espionage and cybercrime. But after that, it's at my discretion," Knowlton said. Historically, the Las Vegas office has always had a strong focus on white-collar crimes. Knowlton said the division's reorganization will affect this area the least. "There's a lot of money in this town," Knowlton said. Violent crime and drug investigations will take the largest hit, but Knowlton said she plans to evaluate the division's reorganization in December and replenish the weakest areas of enforcement. As head of the new terrorism task force, Handley acknowledged he has a daunting task ahead. "I figure I'll end up a hero or I'll be in front of Congress trying to tell them what went wrong," he said. Although the public might see the FBI retreating from the more publicized violent, drug and white-collar crime investigations, Handley said, the nature of the task force's activities will require secrecy and stealth to secure the safety of its operations, he said. "A lot of the time, the public is not going to be fully apprised. A lot of things you're not going to hear about."
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