Steve Neavling

Twenty-year veteran Essam Rabadi became the new special agent in charge this month, Philly.com reports.

Rabadi, a native of Yonkers, N.Y., became an ATF special agent in 1992, three years after he started off as a local police officer, Philly.com reported. Rabadi supervised the Philadelphia division’s drug-trafficking task force from 2000 to 2005.

Rabadi’s new job requires him to oversee 14 ATF offices in Pennsylvania.

“ATF remains dedicated to identifying, targeting, and investigating violent criminals who prey upon innocent citizens and lessen the quality of life in our neighborhoods,” Rabadi said in a statement.

Steve Neavling

 The FBI’s Denver office has a new leader. 

Thomas P. Ravenelle, who most recently served in the inspection division at FBI’s headquarters in Washington D.C., has been named as special agent in charge of the Denver office, CBS Denver reports.

He replaces James Yacone, who left in March to work for the Virginia-based Critical Incident Response Group.

Most recently, Ravenelle led inspections of FBI offices and investigated FBI-involved shootings.

Yacone launched his career with the FBI in 1987.

Kevin R. Cornelius, who most recently served as chief of the Tactical Section within the Critical Incident Response Group (CIRG) and commander of the Hostage Rescue Team (HRT), was named head of the Cincinnati FBI.

Cornelius joined the FBI in 1991 and was first assigned to the Indianapolis Field Office, where he worked violent crime and major offender investigations. In 1994, he joined HRT and served for five years.

In 2003, he became the supervisor of the southern Ohio Joint Terrorism Task Force in the FBI’s Columbus Resident Agency.

In January 2008, he was named assistant special agent in charge for the National Security Branch of the Cincinnati Field Office and was responsible for managing the Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence, Cyber, and Intelligence programs.

He was the FBI’s on-scene commander in Iraq and Afghanistan during 2008 to 2009 and oversaw personnel in both theaters.

In 2011, he was promoted to the Senior Executive Service and his leadership role within CIRG.

He has been an adjunct faculty member with the University of Virginia at the FBI Academy’s Leadership Development Institute, where he taught graduate- and undergraduate-level courses for the FBI’s National Academy.

Aaron Ford

John Strong

Douglas Price

The FBI has announced the appointment of agents to head offices in Charlotte, Newark and Phoenix.

John A. Strong, who was deputy assistant director in the Criminal Justice Information Services Division in Clarksburg, W. Va., will head up the Charlotte office.

Douglas G. Price, who most recently served as chief of the Employee Development and Selection Program Section in the Human Resources Division at FBI headquarters, will head up the Phoenix Division.

And Aaron T. Ford, who served most recently as the special agent in charge of the Memphis Division heads north to head up the Newark Division.

Steve Neavling

Bernard Tolbert, the former head of the FBI office in Buffalo, is entering the mayoral race as a Democrat and will take incumbent Byron Brown, the Buffalo News reports.

Tolbert, 64, is expected to soon file his paperwork for a campaign finance committee.

A Buffalo native and FBI veteran, Tolbert has been quiet about his intentions.

Brown, however, is considered the favorite as he seeks a third term.

Ed Hanko

When Ed Hanko took over as special agent in charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia office, he prominently displayed a photo of his father standing with about 60 other helmeted coal miners at a plant in Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

The weathered black-and-white photo on his bookshelf reminds Hanko of how hard is father worked without making it to high school. 

The Inquirer wrote that Hanko was 12 when he and his father toured the mine. When they re-emerged, his father told Hanko to stay in school and get a good job.

“Whenever I feel like I’m having a bad day,” Hanko, now 52, said, “I look at the picture of my father.”

Steve Neavling

Christopher M. Piehota, special agent in charge of the FBI office in Buffalo, will leave soon to become director of the Terrorists Screening Center in Washington D.C. , the Buffalo News reports.

“To be honest, it’s one of the first lines of defense in our national security,” he said of the screening center, a multiagency organization known for the “Terrorist Watchlist.”

The center was created a few years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack.

Piehota worked at the center before and helped develop and maintain a database of suspected terrorists and the no-fly list.

 It created a buzz in D.C. before the announcement.

President Barack Obama on Tuesday announced his intention to name Julia A. Pierson as the 23rd Director of the U.S. Secret Service and the first woman to head the agency.

The following is a press release that was posted on the Secret Service website:

President Barack Obama has announced his intention to name Julia A. Pierson as the 23rd Director of the United States Secret Service.

Julia Pierson is a career law enforcement executive with more than 30 years of experience with the United States Secret Service. Ms. Pierson’s extensive knowledge of agency stems from her leadership of high impact initiatives in both aspects of its core mission of protection and investigations along with her skills in strategic planning, risk management, human capital management, program management and budget development and execution. Over the past year, Ms. Pierson led the organization’s efforts to enhance professionalism throughout the workforce by representing the Secret Service on a working group of senior level executives. Since assuming the role of Chief of Staff in 2008, her responsibilities included overseeing the Secret Service’s complex information technology and business process modernization efforts.

Earlier in her career, Ms. Pierson served as the Assistant Director of the Office of Human Resources and Training (HRT). In that position, Ms. Pierson was responsible for overseeing all human resource and training programs for the Secret Service. Ms. Pierson oversaw organizational policy development and strategic management of the agency’s Workforce Planning Programs, Personnel Division, Security Clearance Division and the James J. Rowley Training Center basic and operational training programs.

Ms. Pierson also served as Deputy Assistant Director in the Office of Protective Operations, where she was responsible for daily security operations, workforce readiness and strategic planning to support the Presidential and Vice Presidential Protective Divisions, Dignitary Protective Division, as well as National Special Security Events and Presidential Campaign activities. Beyond her operational experience, Ms. Pierson served as the Deputy Assistant Director in the Office of Administration, where she oversaw the agency’s budget and all administrative operations including strategic planning, budgeting, finance, procurement, and property management activities.

Ms. Pierson served as the Assistant Special Agent in Charge in the Tampa Field Office and was responsible for directing Secret Service investigative and protective activities in western Florida. Ms. Pierson established an Electronic Crimes Task Force to investigate cyber crimes in the Tampa Bay area.

Ms. Pierson is a graduate of the University of Central Florida and has completed graduate course studies in public policy at The George Washington University. She has been a member of the federal Senior Executive Service (SES) since 2003 and was the recipient of an SES Presidential Meritorious Executive Rank Award in 2008. A long time proponent of law enforcement officers and their families, Ms. Pierson has been actively involved in supporting the National Law Enforcement Memorial and Concerns of Police Survivors (COPS). A native of Orlando, Florida, Ms. Pierson began her career in the Secret Service as a special agent assigned to the Miami and Orlando field offices. Prior to joining the Secret Service, Ms. Pierson served as a police officer in Orlando, Florida.