The FBI just announced that it's sending its upcoming agent class from Quantico to do a 60-day foot patrol rotation in D.C. alongside local law enforcement and the National Guard. The unprecedented move has been controversial among new recruits and ex-agents alike, saying it is politically motivated and not in line with the FBI’s investigative mission.
So, What’s the Big Deal?
With all the agencies roaming D.C. streets these days, an extra 100 agents on foot patrol might not seem like a big deal. But, for the FBI, it marks the latest in a series of unconventional changes to align the agency to President Trump’s effort to “beautify” and crack down on crime in D.C.
Typically, new agents would be sent to a small to mid-size office or spend a few months working with counterterrorism squads before going to their first office assignments. Instead, they will spend it doing beat cop work, stretching the personnel at nearby FBI offices thin. Each new agent will be paired with an experienced senior on the agency's “Beautiful and Safe” task force.
FBI and D.C. police patrol near U St. (The Washington Post/Getty Images)
Not Everyone Is Happy About It
Many new agents have been frustrated, saying it’s not what they signed up for, The Sun New York reporter Daniel Rosen told us. The FBI is trained and known for pursuing investigations and establishing linkages, not police work. “For some of them, it did catch them off guard, and not for the better,” said Rosen.
Retired agents are also questioning the move, saying it doesn’t align with the agency's investigative mission. They also suspect the new street patrols are more for optics and political signaling than implementing the FBI’s core mission. It’s “a questionable use of highly trained personnel,” one ex-agent told The Sun New York.
When you're looking at right now, the real big pressing issues — national security, cybersecurity, we're in the middle of a war with Iran — sacrificing FBI work over just walking a foot patrol doesn't seem to be the shrewdest allocation of assets.
Daniel Rosen, The Sun New York
The Bigger Picture
This move is the latest disconnect between what the FBI was and what FBI Director Kash Patel wants them to become — a national force for fighting domestic crime. The Bureau is using more agents from the Washington office on patrols, lowering testing requirements for entry, and streamlining previously stringent barriers to entry.
D.C. will see at least two graduating classes from Quantico take part in these local foot patrols. But it is unclear if this part of Patel’s vision is the new norm and what blowback it might have.
