FBI reassignment rule 'crazy'

WASHINGTON, May 23 (UPI) -- An FBI order requiring senior supervisors to leave field service after five years has created a shortage of qualified field managers, veteran U.S. agents say.

The 4-year-old "five years up or out" order requiring senior supervisors to move to the bureau's Washington headquarters or step down has been criticized internally, The Washington Times reported Friday. Supervisors and agents told the newspaper the order reduces the FBI's effectiveness to target, arrest and prosecute criminals.

"The fact that everything has to be decided at headquarters has caused a major problem," one agent told the Times. "I can tell you, many experienced supervisors are bailing out, taking their retirements or leaving early rather than uprooting their lives to move to Washington where very little actual investigative work is being done."

Vacancies have created staffing problems for the FBI's International Terrorism Operations Section, responsible for monitoring al-Qaida terrorist activity in the United States and abroad, the Times reported.

While acknowledging some personnel decisions must be made at headquarters, several agents maintain individual investigations should be run by field supervisors.

"It's crazy to have investigations run out of Washington," a veteran agent told the Times. "You need to have face-to-face meetings with the case agents and the informants and you need to make decisions right now."