By Steve Neavling

The FBI will focus on diversity as it plans to hire 900 new special agents over the next year. 

“People I think have a picture in their mind of what an FBI agent is – a white male in a suit perhaps wearing a hat,” Dallas-based supervisory special agent Lara Burns told 5 NBCDFW.

Most agents are currently white men.  

“We must reflect the diversity in this country,” Burns said.

The diversity will go beyond race and gender to include backgrounds and professions. 

The FBI has been focused on hiring people with computer and science experience. 

To apply, visit fbijobs.gov.

By Steve Neavling

The DEA is searching for hundreds of new agents as synthetic drugs such as fentanyl are killing Americans at an alarming rate.  

“We need to hire the next generation of the best and brightest to help us combat this drug threat that’s going to be ever-changing,” Rob Murphy, special agent in charge of the DEA’s Atlanta office, said, according to WGCL/Gray News. “I can’t even imagine what the next 20 years is going to look like.”

The goal is to reach full capacity of about 5,000 agents. 

The role of the DEA is changing as drugs evolve. 

“I think we’re going to see an end of the plant-based drug threat and we’re going to see more of the synthetics, which is much more dangerous, it’s obviously more addictive,” he said. “Obviously we’re seeing the outcome with fentanyl, easy to make and way more profitable for the cartels and I think that’s where we’re headed in the future.”

Getting a job at the DEA is not easy. Only one of 20 applicants land a job at the agency. 

“It’s the number one vital moment in the agent hiring process to pass the assessment because if you can’t pass the physical task assessment, you can’t move on through the hiring process,” Special Agent Geoff Furman, the recruiter for the DEA Atlanta Division, said. “The division covers Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

By Steve Neavling

ticklethewire.com

Facebook removed recruitment ads run by the Department of Homeland Security because the social media giant mistook them for political ads.

The ads, posted from July 2018 to August 2019, were quickly removed by Facebook because they did not contain disclaimers designed for political ads.

The Daily Beast inquired about the take-downs, and a Facebook spokesperson admitted the ads were removed by mistake and did not require a disclaimer.

A total of 26 recruitment ads were removed by Facebook.

Homeland Security didn’t return Daily Beast requests for comment.

Photo via FBI

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

A data center under construction at an FBI site in Pocatello, Idaho, plans to hire 350 employees when the building is finished, the Idaho State Journal reports. 

The influx of employees will include both new hires and transfers.

“We’ve always talked to them about 300 to 400 jobs for this data center so it’s great news,” said Pocatello Mayor Brian Blad.

The FBI center in Pocatello, which opened in 1985, has provided telecommunications and database support for bureau field services nationwide.

The average estimate salary for each job is $60,000 a year.

Bannock County Development Corporation Executive Director John Regetz said he expected the data center to collaborate with Idaho County University.

“It could really expand our high-tech talent base,” he said.

File photo of a Border Patrol agent.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

President Trump’s pledge to hire 5,000 additional Border Patrol agents is no easy task because the agency is already struggling to maintain its current staff.

In hopes of recruiting more people to apply, the government is holding career fairs around the country and in colleges.

“Immigration, it’s a hot topic right now,” said Adam Leasure, a 19-year-old undergraduate at Temple University in Philadelphia, where one career fair was held. “But I think that when they enforce the laws they have to, such as getting the big cartels and that stuff out of the border, I think it’s very important and very interesting.”

Under Obama’s administration, Border Patrol struggled to fill open positions, partly because of the agency’s rigorous screening process.

“Criminal justice students are always interested in federal law enforcement because it actually pays much better than regular, local county or city agencies are going to pay,” said Professor Cheryl Irons, a former prosecutor who teaches criminal law at Temple

Trump has pledged to ramp up the deportation of undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes. But Border Patrol needs more staff to carry out the plan.

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• Some Senators: DOJ Should Uphold Existing State Marijuana Laws
• PolitiFact: Trump Misleads in Claim about Terrorism Convictions Since 9/11
• Homeland Security Calls Portland Riot ‘Domestic Terrorist Violence’

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Homeland Security is facing an increasing threat from hackers.

To combat the challenge, Homeland Security held its first-ever Cyber and Tech Job Fail July 27-28 in Washington D.C.

The Federal Times reports positive results: 14,000 applicants, 2,500 walk-in candidates, 842 on-site interviews, 400 prospective job offers and 120 new employees.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson made the announcement as part of October’s National Cybersecurity Awareness Month celebrations.

“We thank Congress for new legal authorities in support of our cyber recruitment and retention efforts,” Johnson said. “The department is maximizing its use of these authorities to build our cyber workforce. We also thank the Office of Personnel Management for granting DHS the authority to hire 1,000 cyber professionals this calendar year.”

FBI Director James Comey

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

One of the FBI’s biggest challenges is hackers who are targeting political and financial groups and personal computers.

To combat cyberattacks, the FBI is looking for elite coders who have the technology background to help.

“One problem? A culture clash between elite coders who are attracted to casual — or even rebellious workplaces — and the agency’s bureaucratic reputation,” the Washington Post reports. 

FBI Director James Comey is trying to make the agency hip enough to attract recruits.

“We’re working very hard inside the FBI to be a whole lot cooler than you may think we are,” he said during his remarks at a Symantec Government Symposium last week.

That doesn’t mean the FBI has added “beanbags and granola and a lot of whiteboards,” Comey said.

“But we’re working very hard at marching in that direction, so that when this talent comes into our organization we are open to having them make us better — in a way that connects us and them to our mission more closely,” he said.

The Washington Post wrote:

Despite outreach at high profile hacker conferences like Black Hat and DefCon, recruitment of tech whiz kids by law enforcement and intelligence agencies has been hampered in recent years. One issue is that they have to compete with private sector gigs that can offer better salaries and benefits.

But fallout over surveillance programs revealed in Snowden documents and the FBI’s legal battle to get Apple to help it break into a locked iPhone used by one of the shooters in the San Bernardino, Calif., attacks has also made government work a hard sell to some.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Border Patrol is struggling to hire enough agents to protect the U.S.-Mexico border, KTAR News reports. 

The difficulty of hiring entry-level agents means the Border Patrol is short-staffed.

“The process to get very good people is time consuming,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske said.

“If you are a talented Border Patrol officer, you have a college degree (and) you are fluent in Spanish, there are a lot of other opportunities out there for you,” he said.

CBP officials have expanded their recruiting efforts, targeting veterans and speeding up the hiring process.

“With the Border Patrol, we are losing more people than we are actually able to hire,” he said.