The Federal Bureau of Investigation, formally known as FBI, is an agency of the United States Department of Justice and was formed in 1908. The FBI works as a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency. The main motto of FBI is “Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity.” The importance of FBI in American history or in American society is unimaginable.
In 1908 the Congress passed a law that forbade the use of Treasury employees by the Justice Department, so Attorney General Charles Joseph Bonaparte made a new Bureau of Investigation (BOI or BI). In 1935 the Bureau of Investigation changed its name to Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI.
Until 1886, there was no organization that have the power to regulate interstate commerce. When the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 passed, the FBI’s jurisdiction derived from this Act. FBI’s first official job was to visit and make surveys of the houses of prostitution in preparation for enforcing the “White Slave Traffic Act,” or Mann Act, passed on June 25, 1910. Later on, the FBI performed a lot of remarkable federal investigation efficiently that it can be considered as “symbol of trust” in the Americans’ mind.
I like this post because I had no idea that the FBI was formed so early, I thought it was closer to World War II. I guess the questions it raises are just by nature of our changing times: What kind of stuff has the FBI handled from year to year? There are thresholds for what the FBI might involve themselves in, and certainly some of what they investigate overlaps with what local police might investigate.