Fraud, identity theft, and civil rights investigations by the FBI are plummeting

[Oilwellian]

We're fighting them over there so we can be swindled over here:

Here's another legacy for the Bush administration: plummeting fraud, identity theft, and civil rights investigations by the FBI.

The reason is plain: in the wake of 9/11, the administration ordered the FBI to reorganize with a heavy influence on counterterrorism. Hundreds of agents were reassigned, and many who weren't were put on the beat anyway. Far fewer agents were left to handle other investigations.

When FBI Director Robert Mueller asked Attorney General John Ashcroft and then Alberto Gonzales for help, he was rebuffed, according to The Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Says a former FBI assistant director: "We were told to do more with less."

But, of course, they've done less with less. The P-I gives a rundown:

-- Overall, the number of criminal cases investigated by the FBI nationally has steadily declined. In 2005, the bureau brought slightly more than 20,000 cases to federal prosecutors, compared with about 31,000 in 2000 -- a 34 percent drop.

-- White-collar crime investigations by the bureau have plummeted in recent years. In 2005, the FBI sent prosecutors 3,500 cases -- a fraction of the more than 10,000 cases assigned to agents in 2000....

-- Civil rights investigations, which include hate crimes and police abuse, have continued a steady decline since the late 1990s. FBI agents pursued 65 percent fewer cases in 2005 than they did in 2000.

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002983.php

[Horse with no Name]

1. And ironically (right off the top of my head)

Identity theft has risen to astronomical proportions. Not only that, but the companies that are entrusted to safeguard your personal info are now charging you more to safeguard it better. :wtf:
The police abuse of the TASER has risen as well.

Nobody minding the store, you know.

[melody]

2. Identity theft is probably one of the Bush brothers' primary businesses

I'd put nothing past them.

[Oilwellian]

4. Ding ding ding

Is it no surprise the Bush crime family would dismantle our ability to fight against crime and protect our assets?

[tiptoe]

3. Prez should be impeached for not enforcing the laws of the land (among others things) nt

[tanyev]

5. Another perk for loyal Bushies.

[Kurovski]

6. This one is yet another indication of how little the BushCo shitbags care.

K&R.