Day 10: FBI, Freeze!

As the title of the post gives away, we went to the FBI office in Oklahoma city. It was interesting to know what they did. As from films it doesn't give much away in regards to their duties and they portray themselves in films as taking over the operation. So going to see what the FBI does was very interesting (Plus how many people can say they visited the FBI on their birthday).

They described the different crimes in which they help solve which are involved; white collar crime (bribery, fruad, identity theft etc) , counter terrorism, civil rights (protecting an individuals freedom, free from discrimination) and cyber crime. Usually they work with the police when required. When they are requested (usually if there is a case where the area may have a small police force) they help in the investigation and communicate with other forces.

They protect the rights of individuals freedom of speech and investigate acts of discrimination. However sexual orientation was not included until 2009, which is relatively recent. In the UK there have been laws defining that acts of aggression towards someone because of their sexual orientation is an act of discrimination for a longer period of time. It makes you wonder why such laws were not included earlier.

After visiting the FBI, we went to the police departments intelligence unit. They went through the procedures in phone tapping. They need a court order and will need a lot of evidence to prove that the person who is having their phone tapped is the likely suspect. If they get the incorrect suspect then it would have an invasion of privacy for said individual. Usually these wire taps are only for severe cases such as homicides and drugs.

Another department that was looked at was the gangs and gang warfare. They specialised in the different type of gangs that there are in Oklahoma. They had the varying colours of bandanas and photos of tattoos which showed which gang they were part of. There was also intell on which gangs were more likely to fight each other and what activities they were into. They have been known to recruit members at a young age. Some as young as 12 as they may have older brothers who are part of the gang. Another high risk factor that someone may join a gang is the attachment of the child with the parents. They may not have great communication with the family members and may try and find such family in a gang, as the believe there is a false sense of trust. Another possible reason is the lack of entertainment facilities. That way, they can find stuff to do. The intelligent unit into gangs gathers intelligence on the different gangs and can predict if there are going to be any clashes between gangs and create a prevention for future gun fights.

The other unit was the graffiti unit. A fairly recent unit in which they try and find 'taggers' so that they can easily identify someone if they are graffiti on public property. This vandalism causes the government a lot of money to repair/paint over the graffiti, therefore wishing to find those who are responsible. With creating profiles of varying taggers and their artwork they can be more easily identified. They also identify high risk areas in which graffiti takes place.

As mentioned earlier, it was my birthday on the 27th June. As I had turned 21 on that day and I can legally drink in the USA (it felt as though I was turning 18 again back in the UK). For that day we went to a bar in Bricktown, to have food and a couple of drinks. I had such an amazing night with everyone there. Plus chocolate cake was absolutely gorgeous which was a lovely surprise. Thanks to Everyone!