What the heck is up with Federal Law Enforcement ?

[RMAC757]

This is not a cop bashing thread, please don't twist it.
I've been lurking for a while so I apologize if this is a repost. I have a number of really good friends involved with Federal law enforcement and while being good drinkers and they are also total professionals. As a pilot, I also know the media can blow things out of proportion to create a story. That being said, what the hell is going on with Federal Law Enforcement Agencies?! First of all of the issues with a few agents from the Secret Service leading to another leadership change. This combined with the security breeches doesn't seem to create a high level of confidence given the tax dollars spent on this detail. Now we have the DEA and U.S. Marshals being caught up in scandals based on professionalism? The DEA mess seems to be pretty serious when your turned in by the guys your investigating. 2-10 day suspensions for cohorting with cartel prostitutes and taking gifts from their bosses and you get a 2-10 day suspension? What the hell does it take to get fired from one of these places? I think we need to bring in a certain member to clean house at a couple of these agencies. Again, this is not a cop bashing thread so if your going there ....leave. I am just seriously curious what it takes to get fired from one of these places and what type of oversight is going on.

[Aloha_Shooter]

The DoJ and other parts of the federal bureaucracy started going to hell during the Clinton Administration when they cleaned house of people who might not follow WH instructions to persecute political enemies or tamp down on burgeoning Clinton scandals. The IRS used to be very serious about being non-partisan -- the whole deal with Lois Lerner shows that went away a while ago. The Park Service was purely apolitical until the Clinton-Gingrich budget battles. The Park Service and others were reluctant participants during the Clinton efforts to make taxpayers feel burdened by government shutdowns but became enthusiastic co-conspirators in the Obama campaign to inflict pain on the US taxpayer when the GOP attempted to restrain the Obama budget. This doesn't appear to have been fixed during the Bush administration and of course Obama and Holder just accentuated the decay that started when Holder was Dep AG.

The transformation of the federal bureaucracy from public servants to federal unionists (and I don't mean in a Battle Hymn of the Republic sort of way) has a great deal to do with the loss of professionalism in various agencies.

[Skip]

Look at the culture in Washington/FedGov and ask yourself: Would your heart be in it?

Mine wouldn't and I'm just being honest. Yes, it's a job with good benefits, but it's not like the people you serve in that position are making the world a better place. Most of our leadership is in it for themselves and transferring power from the People to their pet causes and personal politics.

Just think about someone working in DHS fighting terrorism (a noble job)... Breaking his back to make sure the bad people can't set off a dirty bomb in NYC only to see our President embolden Islamists and make deals with Iran. And the next guy, Hillary, is owned by the same people, so what's going to change?

Kind of hard to be a hero while serving thieves and professional liars and we can never be better than our bosses in any profession (public or private sector).

Just my take. I was seriously talking to an FBI recruiter while I was in school after my enlistment--this was back in '98ish. I wised up fast (nothing against those in Federal LE).

[Great-Kazoo]

Based on the family involved with LE. it's the higher ups withing the system who are more concerned with being PC to advance their own careers, over the safety of the officers below them.

[cstone]

Kind of hard to be a hero while serving thieves and professional liars and we can never be better than our bosses in any profession (public or private sector).

Oddly enough I feel in many ways that I and many of my colleagues are better than many of our bosses.

No amount of corruptions in others and your environment are acceptable excuses for your own lack of integrity.

The only people I've ever met who wanted to be a "hero" had personal mental and emotional instability issues.

IMO, the searchlight for "news" is always turning. Sometimes it catches something and like a dog on a bone or sent, it keeps looking and digging. Many of these recent issues have been around in varying degrees for decades. This is the natural disinfectant of sunlight.

IMO, the Clinton Administration had a devastating impact on the US Secret Service.

[Bailey Guns]

It happens when there's no leadership at any level above you.

[RMAC757]

Great replies. Thanks for the insight AS. One of my best friends is a position with DHS that puts him in the fray a lot. I've never seen him so beaten down and pissed off at the bureaucracy. Brand new helicopters with not enough funding to pay for gas or keep people current? He can't wait to get his time in and get out. Apparently we are headed towards pre 9/11 organization and mis-management. I still am a bit confused at how one gets a 2-10 day suspension and the director says that they can't be terminated after consorting and taking gifts from cartel members. There are a hell of a lot of guys who could do that job without being corrupted. When I was younger I had put my packet in with a few of these agencies. I think I may of made the right choice to steer clear and stay with the airlines.

[RMAC757]

It happens when there's no leadership at any level above you.

Exactly

[RMAC757]

Oddly enough I feel in many ways that I and many of my colleagues are better than many of our bosses.

No amount of corruptions in others and your environment are acceptable excuses for your own lack of integrity.

The only people I've ever met who wanted to be a "hero" had personal mental and emotional instability issues.

IMO, the searchlight for "news" is always turning. Sometimes it catches something and like a dog on a bone or sent, it keeps looking and digging. Many of these recent issues have been around in varying degrees for decades. This is the natural disinfectant of sunlight.

IMO, the Clinton Administration had a devastating impact on the US Secret Service.

We need people of your caliber running the show.

[Ranger353]

Each issue, and each agency, has its own complex problems based on different circumstances. I know some supervisors with the U.S. Marshal Service, I have been to some leadership courses with them, and they eat, sleep, and crap professional. Same with the couple of DEA and FBI folks I know. These are large bureaucracies, thousands of agents doing many things. There is always a small 1%-2% part of any bureaucracy that is not performing to standard, or worse actually doing wrong things.

Don't paint everyone with the same brush. I would still feel absolutely comfortable relying on those guys for my life. No questions asked. If you know a special agent in any of the federal LE agencies you can ask them "what do you think about (fill in the scandal)" and I bet that they will be more disgusted and angry over the issue than you are because most feel that a brother or sister has let them down, broke a sacred trust, or flat betrayed them all.