The FBI’s numerous investigative programs present many challenges, but one goal remains constant. According to its mission, the agency strives “…to protect and defend the United States against terrorist and foreign intelligence threats and to enforce the criminal laws of the United States.”[1] This holds true for every program in the bureau.
Part of the FBI’s National Security Branch, the Counterintelligence Division (CD) protects the United States against the foreign intelligence threats defined in the agency’s mission. As with any of the bureau’s divisions, CD encounters challenges and often employs its own unique investigative techniques to address them. “It’s not just the more traditional spies passing U.S. secrets to foreign governments…. It also involves students and scientists and plenty of other persons stealing the valuable trade secrets of American universities and businesses—the ingenuity that drives our economy—and providing them to other countries. It’s nefarious actors sending controlled technologies overseas that help build bombs and weapons of mass destruction designed to hurt and kill Americans and others.”[2]
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One universal factor generally holds true across all divisions and programs: The FBI accomplishes its challenging mission by developing human sources. To this end, a unique, sophisticated resource exists—the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC)—to bolster the agency’s criminal and terrorism investigations. The center strives to “…provide behavioral-based operational support to federal, state, local, and international law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation of unusual or repetitive violent crimes, communicated threats, terrorism, and other matters of interest to law enforcement and national security agencies.”[3] NCAVC consists of special agents and other professionals who provide advice and support for cases, including those involving child abductions or mysterious disappearances of children; serial, spree, mass, and other murders; serial rape; extortion; threats; kidnaping; product tampering; arson and bombings; weapons of mass destruction; public corruption; cyber crime; and domestic and international terrorism.[4]
Similarly, CD has its own behavioral team—the Behavioral Analysis Program (BAP), which supports the division’s strategic goals by providing direct operational support to counterintelligence investigators. The program provides consultative services from a team of trained and experienced BAP members who review and analyze pertinent behavioral information and develop cogent suggestions and strategies for the interaction between investigators and subjects. The assessment and engagement strategies devised merely result from the thoughtful process of creating a positive interaction and possible relationship between two individuals, whether the goal is an interview, confession, or development of a confidential human source.
Read more at http://leb.fbi.gov/2013/july/fbi-counterintelligence-divisions-behavioral-analysis-program-a-unique-investigative-resource
