The FBI works around the globe to combat the most dangerous criminal and security threats facing our country—from international and domestic terrorists to spies on U.S. soil…from cyber villains to corrupt government officials…from mobsters to violent street thugs…from child predators to serial killers.
We currently have jurisdiction over violations in more than 200 categories of federal law. They generally fall under our three national security priorities and our five criminal priorities as follows:
National Security Priorities:
1. Protect the United States from terrorist attack
It’s our overriding priority—to head off terrorist attacks by identifying and disrupting the plots of international and domestic terrorist operatives and cells, by cutting off terrorist financing and undercutting other forms of support provided by terrorist sympathizers, by sharing information and intelligence with partners worldwide, and by providing strategic and operational threat analysis to decision makers and the wider intelligence community.
The International Terrorism Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) squad in Minneapolis specifically targets threats from international terrorist organizations and their members, facilitators, and supporters. The task force investigators collect, analyze, and disseminate information; gather evidence that can lead to criminal prosecution; and work to prevent terrorist acts.
The Minneapolis Division also investigates domestic terrorism. This responsibility includes being prepared to successfully handle crises and consequences of terrorist attacks utilizing weapons of mass destruction and to manage and support designated special events.
For more information on the FBI’s national efforts to prevent terrorist attacks, see our Counterterrorism webpage. See our Press Room for current cases.
2. Protect the United States against foreign intelligence operations and espionage
Today, more foreign spies—not just traditional adversaries but also allies, hackers, and terrorists—are trying to steal more of our secrets from more places than ever before. What do they want? Our country's juiciest classified information, of course…from military plans to national security vulnerabilities to our own intelligence activities. But increasingly, they also want our country's trade secrets—innovations that give us a leg up in the global marketplace—and seemingly harmless technologies that could be used to develop or improve weapons of mass destruction.
The National Foreign Intelligence Program in the Minneapolis Division conducts investigations that enable it to collect, analyze, and use information that identifies and neutralizes the activities of foreign powers and their agents adversely affecting U.S. national security.
For more information on the FBI’s national program, see our Counterintelligence webpage and see our Press Room for current cases.
3. Protect the United States against cyber-based attacks and high-technology crimes
The FBI leads the national effort to investigate high-tech crimes, including cyber-based terrorism, hostile intelligence operations carried out over the Internet, and more traditional cyber crime and fraud. Our work includes identifying and stopping: the individuals and enterprises behind the most serious computer intrusions and the spread of malicious code; online sexual predators who use the Internet to meet and exploit children and groups that use it to produce, possess, or share child pornography; operations that target U.S. intellectual property; and the most significant perpetrators of Internet fraud.
The Minneapolis Division's Cyber Crime Squad investigates intrusions, attacks on systems and networks, and incidents involving data loss, manipulation, and theft. Together with the Department of Homeland Security, investigators are responsible for guarding the critical infrastructures within our three-state jurisdiction. See the Partnerships page for details.
For more information on the FBI’s national efforts, see our Cyber Investigations webpage, and see our Press Room for current cases.
Criminal Priorities:
4. Combat public corruption at all levels
The FBI has investigated corruption in government since its earliest days as an agency. Public corruption presents a fundamental threat to society because it undermines the effectiveness of our democracy and the nation’s trust in government. The FBI plays a major role in rooting out this corruption, and these cases are among the most sensitive that we handle.
Public corruption cases can involve everyone from local government regulatory inspectors to elected officials at the highest levels of the government. Priority investigative areas include law enforcement, legislative, regulatory, judicial, contract, election/campaign finance, and executive corruption. FBI responsibilities include the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, obstruction of justice, perjury and contempt of court, jury panel investigations, election law matters, and the illegal interception of communications. About half of law enforcement corruption is related to drugs.
To help combat this threat, the Minneapolis Division has actively educated community leaders and concerned citizens on public corruption and related matters such as civil rights. Concentrated efforts by the Minneapolis Division have fostered excellent working relationships that mutually benefit our Public Corruption Program and the community.
For more information on the FBI’s national efforts, see our Public Corruption webpage. And see our Press Room for current cases.
5. Protect civil rights
The FBI is the lead agency for investigating violations of federal civil rights laws…and we take that responsibility seriously. Specifically, we aggressively investigate and work to prevent hate crime, color of law abuses, human trafficking, and freedom of access to clinic entrances violations—the four top priorities of our civil rights program. We focus on all of these issues in Minneapolis.
For more information on our overall efforts, see our Civil Rights webpage. And see our Press Room for current cases.
6. Combat transnational/national criminal organizations and enterprises
Our investigations into organized crime focus on structured groups such as the Italian Mafia (also known as La Cosa Nostra), Russian/Eurasian crime rings, and Asian and Nigerian criminal enterprises.
Learn more about our national work to combat organized crime and violent street gangs. And see our Press Room for current cases.
7. Combat major white-collar crime
Even in the post 9/11 era, the FBI remains committed to protecting Americans from corporate criminals and con artists. Nationwide, the white-collar crime program is staffed by more than 2,000 special agents, including more than 1,000 accountants and certified public accountants. This expertise would rank the FBI among the top 15 CPA firms.
White-collar crime involves corruption, financial fraud, and government fraud, and it can have a devastating impact on our nation's public welfare and economic health. It may seem that no one really gets hurt in these crimes, but the agents and officers who work these cases can tell you differently. Many victims lose their life savings. Businesses fail, employees are laid off, retirement accounts are depleted, and faith in business and government is eroded. In some instances, these cases involve suicide and even murder. Recent trends suggest that gangs, drug dealers, and other violent criminals are turning to white-collar crime because it is more profitable and less risky than some of their traditional illegal activities.
A recent survey by the Division revealed that white-collar crime is significant in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area, where 75 percent of the state's population resides. Law enforcement agencies expect the FBI to continue to be a leader in these complex criminal investigations.
For more information, see our White-Collar Crime webpage. And see our Press Room for current cases and our Minneapolis History page for past investigations.
8. Combat significant violent crime
This priority includes addressing crime on Indian reservations, violent incident crimes, street gangs, fugitives, and interstate theft.
There are a total of 14 Indian reservations in Minneapolis' territory that are under federal jurisdiction, encompassing a total of nearly three million acres. Crimes on reservations include homicide, aggravated assault, rape, and child sexual and physical abuse cases. The FBI has primary jurisdiction for investigating felonies that occur on these reservations. The Minneapolis Division consistently leads the FBI nationwide in the number of indictments and convictions based on these crimes. We also help find wanted fugitives and bank robbers on these reservations.
Violent incident crimes include kidnapping, extortion, car-jacking, armored car robberies, and bank robberies. Bank robberies are the most common violent incident crimes.
The Minneapolis Division has experienced a major influx of gangs from larger metropolitan areas, most notably Chicago, Detroit, and Los Angeles. While the primary criminal activity continues to be drug trafficking, these gangs participate in numerous violent crimes as a result of the trafficking.
Street gangs are also becoming very involved in promoting child prostitution. In a larger effort to address this problem, the Department of Justice launched the Innocence Lost National Initiative in June 2003. The Minneapolis Division was identified as one of 13 cities with a large concentration of child prostitution enterprises. The Division created the Minnesota Child Prostitution Initiative to aggressively target criminal enterprises that promote this activity. This effort includes FBI agents, officers from the Minneapolis and St. Paul Police Departments, and agents from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, all of whom work together to identify, disrupt, and dismantle criminal enterprises engaged in child prostitution.
Over the past several years, there has been a spike in gang-related activity on the various Indian reservations throughout the Minneapolis Division. The FBI has created several task forces on the reservations to address this problem. In addition to FBI agents, the task forces include officers and investigators from county law enforcement agencies and Indian Tribal Police forces.
To help capture wanted fugitives, the Minnesota Fugitive Task Force was established in 1992. It is made up of FBI agents, officers from the Minneapolis and St. Paul Police Departments, deputies from the Hennepin and Ramsey County Sheriff's Offices, and deputies from the U.S. Marshals Service. The task force pursues individuals who have outstanding felony warrants for violent crimes. Since its inception, the task force has apprehended some of the most violent offenders in the Minneapolis Division territory. It is also responsible for tracking local fugitives who flee Minnesota to avoid being prosecuted. Working with other FBI fugitive task forces, the Minnesota Fugitive Task Force has been able to locate and arrest wanted felons from the Twin Cities metropolitan area, regardless of where they have fled. The task force also locates and arrests dangerous fugitives from other jurisdictions who attempt to hide in Minnesota.
Interstate theft includes the theft of shipments of goods en route to other states, interstate transportation of stolen property, stolen motor vehicles, the theft of valuable art and artifacts, and jewelry theft. The Minneapolis Division provides assistance and intelligence to other FBI divisions and local authorities with regard to these crimes.
The Minneapolis Division recognizes the need for the public’s help in combating violent crime. Anyone with any information regarding any of the violent crimes described above is encouraged to call us at (612) 376-3200. All information is kept strictly confidential.
For more details on our overall national efforts, see our Major Thefts and Violent Crime webpage. And see our Press Room for current cases.
