The California Office of the Attorney General (AG) was created in 1850; however, permanent law enforcement and criminal investigative elements of the CA DOJ were not established until the early 20th century. Despite this, CA DOJ's Law Enforcement personnel can trace part of their roots back to that of the original California Rangers; the first statewide criminal investigative and law enforcement agency created on May 17, 1853. Although the California Rangers were quickly disbanded (following their success in bringing the violent Five Joaquins gang to justice), their special law enforcement capabilities and statewide investigative mission now reside primarily with CA DOJ Special Agents, such as those assigned to CBI.[1]
The CBI is the oldest continuously operating statewide criminal investigative agency in the CA DOJ, and in the state of California. Listed below are some key dates in the history of the CBI clarifying this lineage:
In 1905, the California Bureau of Criminal Identification (CBCI) was created for classification and identification of incarcerated criminals via various means such as fingerprints. However, the original CBCI was disbanded in 1909 and had no formal criminal investigative mission.
On January 1, 1918 (following approved legislation in 1917), CBCI was reinstated as the California Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (CBCII), following recognition by state officials that unification of state law enforcement efforts was needed in collecting/maintaining a repository of criminal identification information accessible to law enforcement agencies throughout the state, in addition to investigating and apprehending criminals. This is also recognized as the founding date of the CBI, as it was when the bureau adopted its first criminal investigative authorities, assisting other law enforcement agencies throughout the state as needed in complex criminal investigations. The investigators within this bureau were recruited as experts in a variety of criminal investigative and scientific fields. CBCII, along with the later (but now-defunct) California Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement (BNE) created in 1927, provided the state with its initial state-wide criminal investigative capabilities it still has today via CBI.
On May 1, 1944, the CA DOJ was created, and the California Office of the Attorney General (OAG) was transferred to it (which also administers it), along with the BNE.
In 1945, the CBCII was also transferred under CA DOJ, and shortly after, was split into the Bureau of Investigation (BI) and Bureau of Criminal Statistics (later to be renamed to the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information). This is where BI would remain until present day (as the modern CBI).
In 1962, the Division of Law Enforcement (DLE) was created under the CA DOJ. The BNE and CBI were transferred under the new DLE, with a single division director (later renamed to division chief) overseeing the bureaus, and reporting directly to the CA AG.
In 1971, the 26th CA AG (a former FBI agent and U.S. Army intelligence officer), drastically reorganized the DLE in order to improve efficiency and effectiveness.
In 1998, despite many throughout the state already referring to it as such, the BI officially re-brands itself as "CBI" (which it is still widely referred to as today) with the approval of the 30th Attorney General of California, Bill Lockyer, and becomes an extremely well-known and respected, state investigative law enforcement agency. At this point in time, CBI includes field operations, an organized crime unit, a witness protection program, a major crimes program, a gang/criminal extremist unit, and an intelligence unit. The DOJ/CBI Special Agents of this time are assigned to multiple task forces (state and federal), and assist other departments throughout the state with investigations, operations, support, and advanced law enforcement training, while also still conducting investigations related to any of the California Attorney General's work/cases/matters of interest.
In 2008, the acclaim and prestige of the CBI reaches its height, when the CBS television network creates a popular new television series based on a team of CBI Special Agents, "The Mentalist". The show lasts seven seasons.
In 2009, although still essentially the same organization, the official name of CBI was changed to the Bureau of Investigation and Intelligence (BII) after it merged with the Bureau of Intelligence following a massive reorganization and consolidation of the CA DOJ's Division of Law Enforcement.[2]
In 2012, DLE restructuring culminates with it being significantly cut, and numerous CA DOJ Special Agents (assigned to multiple bureaus) are laid off. The law enforcement capabilities of the DLE are also drastically reduced or completely eliminated. As part of this reduction, the BNE is disbanded, with a few of its remaining functions/personnel being transferred to the BII. After this, the BII was renamed back to "BI" on February 17, 2012.[3] Since this, the DLE and CBI have slowly attempted to rebuild capabilities it once had, but is still not near the level it was prior to 2012.
Current functionsedit
Today the CBI can be assigned at the discretion of the State Attorney General, perform investigations on public land for incidents that occur outside of local jurisdictions, or can be requested by local authority for various reasons (e.g., areas that are too small to have local detectives or cross-jurisdiction coordination of major crimes). The CBI also operates several programs including a Special Investigations Team (SIT) handling high-profile investigations and special investigative requests from the Attorney General's Office, a Special Operations Unit (SOU) targeting murder suspects and violent criminal groups with special equipment/resources, a Human Trafficking Team, a Sexual Predator and Assault Team (SPAT), an Electronic Crimes Unit (ECU), a Tax Recovery and Crime Enforcement (TRACE) Task Force, a Recycling Fraud Team (RFT), an intelligence operations clearing house/de-confliction center for law enforcement agencies (LA CLEAR), and the state anti-terrorism program. The CBI also runs and/or participates in several other highly successful state and federal task forces.
In fictionedit
A fictional version of CBI was featured in the television seriesThe Mentalist. It featured several units, with the one featuring the main characters focusing mostly on the investigation of homicides, and occasionally kidnappings or missing persons. The Region 1 DVD release of the fourth season of The Mentalist includes the special CBI: Behind the Badge, featuring interaction with actual law enforcement officers in California, specifically focusing on a homicide task force with several agents and officers of different agencies (including those from CBI), who tutored those who worked on the program in providing a realistic portrayal.[4]
A CBI Special Agent was also featured in a third-season episode of the crime television series Numb3rs, where the CBI agent worked together with the FBI to catch a murderous cult leader.[5]
Beginning in 2007, New York Times best-selling author Jeffery Deaver wrote a series of crime drama novels starring the fictional Special Agent Kathryn Dance of the CA DOJ/CBI. The most recent novel in the series was published in 2015.
Referencesedit
^California Department of Justice. [1] Accessed 2017 Dec 30.
^. Archived from the original on 2009-03-21. Retrieved 2012-06-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^"Bureau of Investigation". oag.ca.gov. 8 March 2012. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
^"REVIEW: The Mentalist: The Complete Fourth Season (DVD)". Archived from the original on 2012-09-23. Retrieved 2012-12-26.
Bureau of Investigation (BI) – description on the California Office of the Attorney General's website
November 28, 2023
california, bureau, investigation, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, thi. This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources California Bureau of Investigation news newspapers books scholar JSTOR May 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article contains text that is written in a promotional tone Please help improve it by removing promotional language and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic text written from a neutral point of view July 2023 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message The California Bureau of Investigation CBI or BI is California s statewide criminal investigative bureau under the California Department of Justice CA DOJ in the Division of Law Enforcement DLE administered by the Office of the State Attorney General that provides expert investigative services to assist local state tribal and federal agencies in major criminal investigations ranging across the state California Bureau of InvestigationCBI SealCBI LogoCA DOJ Special Agent BadgeAbbreviation CBI or BI MottoLiberty and Justice Under LawAgency overviewFormedJanuary 1 1918 105 years ago 1918 01 01 Preceding agenciesCalifornia RangersCalifornia Bureau of Criminal Identification and InvestigationBureau of Investigation and IntelligenceAnnual budget 233 million Division of Law Enforcement Jurisdictional structureOperations jurisdictionCalifornia U S CBI Regional amp Field Offices throughout CAOperational structureHeadquartersSacramento CaliforniaDivision Chief responsibleJohn Marsh Chief Division of Law EnforcementAgency executiveStephen Woolery Director Bureau of InvestigationParent agencyCalifornia Department of Justice Division of Law EnforcementWebsiteoag wbr ca wbr gov wbr bi Contents 1 History 2 Current functions 3 In fiction 4 References 5 External linksHistory editThe California Office of the Attorney General AG was created in 1850 however permanent law enforcement and criminal investigative elements of the CA DOJ were not established until the early 20th century Despite this CA DOJ s Law Enforcement personnel can trace part of their roots back to that of the original California Rangers the first statewide criminal investigative and law enforcement agency created on May 17 1853 Although the California Rangers were quickly disbanded following their success in bringing the violent Five Joaquins gang to justice their special law enforcement capabilities and statewide investigative mission now reside primarily with CA DOJ Special Agents such as those assigned to CBI 1 The CBI is the oldest continuously operating statewide criminal investigative agency in the CA DOJ and in the state of California Listed below are some key dates in the history of the CBI clarifying this lineage In 1905 the California Bureau of Criminal Identification CBCI was created for classification and identification of incarcerated criminals via various means such as fingerprints However the original CBCI was disbanded in 1909 and had no formal criminal investigative mission On January 1 1918 following approved legislation in 1917 CBCI was reinstated as the California Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation CBCII following recognition by state officials that unification of state law enforcement efforts was needed in collecting maintaining a repository of criminal identification information accessible to law enforcement agencies throughout the state in addition to investigating and apprehending criminals This is also recognized as the founding date of the CBI as it was when the bureau adopted its first criminal investigative authorities assisting other law enforcement agencies throughout the state as needed in complex criminal investigations The investigators within this bureau were recruited as experts in a variety of criminal investigative and scientific fields CBCII along with the later but now defunct California Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement BNE created in 1927 provided the state with its initial state wide criminal investigative capabilities it still has today via CBI On May 1 1944 the CA DOJ was created and the California Office of the Attorney General OAG was transferred to it which also administers it along with the BNE In 1945 the CBCII was also transferred under CA DOJ and shortly after was split into the Bureau of Investigation BI and Bureau of Criminal Statistics later to be renamed to the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information This is where BI would remain until present day as the modern CBI In 1962 the Division of Law Enforcement DLE was created under the CA DOJ The BNE and CBI were transferred under the new DLE with a single division director later renamed to division chief overseeing the bureaus and reporting directly to the CA AG In 1971 the 26th CA AG a former FBI agent and U S Army intelligence officer drastically reorganized the DLE in order to improve efficiency and effectiveness In 1998 despite many throughout the state already referring to it as such the BI officially re brands itself as CBI which it is still widely referred to as today with the approval of the 30th Attorney General of California Bill Lockyer and becomes an extremely well known and respected state investigative law enforcement agency At this point in time CBI includes field operations an organized crime unit a witness protection program a major crimes program a gang criminal extremist unit and an intelligence unit The DOJ CBI Special Agents of this time are assigned to multiple task forces state and federal and assist other departments throughout the state with investigations operations support and advanced law enforcement training while also still conducting investigations related to any of the California Attorney General s work cases matters of interest In 2008 the acclaim and prestige of the CBI reaches its height when the CBS television network creates a popular new television series based on a team of CBI Special Agents The Mentalist The show lasts seven seasons In 2009 although still essentially the same organization the official name of CBI was changed to the Bureau of Investigation and Intelligence BII after it merged with the Bureau of Intelligence following a massive reorganization and consolidation of the CA DOJ s Division of Law Enforcement 2 In 2012 DLE restructuring culminates with it being significantly cut and numerous CA DOJ Special Agents assigned to multiple bureaus are laid off The law enforcement capabilities of the DLE are also drastically reduced or completely eliminated As part of this reduction the BNE is disbanded with a few of its remaining functions personnel being transferred to the BII After this the BII was renamed back to BI on February 17 2012 3 Since this the DLE and CBI have slowly attempted to rebuild capabilities it once had but is still not near the level it was prior to 2012 Current functions editToday the CBI can be assigned at the discretion of the State Attorney General perform investigations on public land for incidents that occur outside of local jurisdictions or can be requested by local authority for various reasons e g areas that are too small to have local detectives or cross jurisdiction coordination of major crimes The CBI also operates several programs including a Special Investigations Team SIT handling high profile investigations and special investigative requests from the Attorney General s Office a Special Operations Unit SOU targeting murder suspects and violent criminal groups with special equipment resources a Human Trafficking Team a Sexual Predator and Assault Team SPAT an Electronic Crimes Unit ECU a Tax Recovery and Crime Enforcement TRACE Task Force a Recycling Fraud Team RFT an intelligence operations clearing house de confliction center for law enforcement agencies LA CLEAR and the state anti terrorism program The CBI also runs and or participates in several other highly successful state and federal task forces In fiction editA fictional version of CBI was featured in the television series The Mentalist It featured several units with the one featuring the main characters focusing mostly on the investigation of homicides and occasionally kidnappings or missing persons The Region 1 DVD release of the fourth season of The Mentalist includes the special CBI Behind the Badge featuring interaction with actual law enforcement officers in California specifically focusing on a homicide task force with several agents and officers of different agencies including those from CBI who tutored those who worked on the program in providing a realistic portrayal 4 A CBI Special Agent was also featured in a third season episode of the crime television series Numb3rs where the CBI agent worked together with the FBI to catch a murderous cult leader 5 Beginning in 2007 New York Times best selling author Jeffery Deaver wrote a series of crime drama novels starring the fictional Special Agent Kathryn Dance of the CA DOJ CBI The most recent novel in the series was published in 2015 References edit California Department of Justice 1 Accessed 2017 Dec 30 Bureau of Investigation amp Intelligence Archived from the original on 2009 03 21 Retrieved 2012 06 08 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link Bureau of Investigation oag ca gov 8 March 2012 Retrieved March 11 2012 REVIEW The Mentalist The Complete Fourth Season DVD Archived from the original on 2012 09 23 Retrieved 2012 12 26 Nine Wives Numb3rs Season 3 Episode 12 CBS External links editBureau of Investigation BI description on the California Office of the Attorney General s website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title California Bureau of Investigation amp oldid 1184151866, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
