The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a part of Department of Justice, government of United States of America. The main objective of this agency is to defend the US against all kinds of internal as well as external threats including threats related to terrorism and foreign intelligence. FBI performs its duty through a number of departments and sections. The agency takes care of a variety of assignments in criminal justice. The agency is allocated a hefty annual budget by the US government for its operations and expenditures in order to fulfil all its responsibilities. This paper intends to discuss revenue and expenditures the FBI along with discussing various other related aspects.
FBI gets a hefty budget from the US government for its day to day affairs, recruitments, operations, criminal justice affairs, legal expenditures and various other expenses. In order to look after its financial account and complex financial activities, a financial department works separately. This department takes care of salaries, transportation expenditures, operations costs, expenses on foreign missions and a number of other activities. Role of this department is very crucial and it works under the director of FBI (Comey, 2014).
FBI puts up a request before the US government for the annual funding. This request is presented by the FBI Director every year. The director presents a detailed account of expenditures before the house appropriation committee. The director also elaborates about the expenditure of current year and fund expenditure of the past year. The director describes how FBI is going to use this fund for its internal operations and foreign missions. US government grants this fund to FBI after a scrutiny of agency’s demands (Comey, 2014).
Though government funding is the main source of revenue of the FBI but there are several other sources of its revenue. The agency earns revenue from its headquarters and offices. The agency get substantial revenue by leasing its unused premises. The agency collects taxes from visitors who visit FBI offices. Rent and taxes are also collected by the FBI from district residents who are employed with the agency. The revenue collected by FBI is not enough for its considerable expenditures and the agency is primarily dependent on the budget of American government.
The FBI expenditure is mainly used up on national security, foreign intelligence and criminal justice. These are areas that affect the security of the United States of America and cannot be compromised under any situation. Preserving national security is a huge task that needs effort, supervision and competence. Countering terrorism and procuring the security of the nation is the responsibility of the FBI and the agency takes no chance on this front. This whole affair of maintaining national security needs a lot of money and the agency spends a substantial part of the government funding on the same (Wilson et al., 2013).
United States of America is always on radar of dreaded terrorists thus countering terrorism is one of major responsibilities of the FBI. This is very costly affair and needs a lot of money. FBI spends a huge sum of its budget on training of FBI men, preparation, operation and elimination of terrorists. FBI has a mission to eliminate terrorist organizations that have become deadlier and have been proved to be a threat to national security.
Foreign intelligence is another responsibility of the FBI and needs a lot of money. In order to counter threats and conspiracies against American national security, FBI keeps a close monitoring on foreign intelligence. The agency keeps eyes on the activities of other countries that are a potential threat to the United States of America. The agency also keeps monitoring the activities of potential terrorists, criminals and individuals that may create problem for the America and its national interests. FBI also defies the spy activities of other nations as a part of their foreign missions.
FBI plays very significant role in foreign operations and missions that are against the national security of America. America still faces grave threat from organizations like Al Qaeda and ISIS. Dismantling these terrorist organizations and seize their activities is one of several responsibilities of the FBI. The agency collaborates with other agencies and implements foreign missions in order to keep the national security as well as national interests unharmed. Such operations need huge money and the agency spends a huge sum of their budget allocation on this affair.
Criminal justice is another area wherein FBI spends a large sum of its budgetary allocations. Criminal justice is a wider area and affects the national security in a substantial way. Crime graph is continuously increasing in the United States of America and there are a number of dreaded criminals that keep threating the national security. These dreaded criminals are as dangerous as terrorists. They harm national assets, commit heinous crimes in the society rob banks and do not hesitate in killing those who comes in their way (Palmiotto, 2013).
FBI spends its money on countering different kinds of crime. The agency keeps cyber space, it takes care of economic crimes and also it looks after other forms of organized crime. FBI invests a huge sum of its budget in the area of criminal justice. The agency bust criminals and their gangs or kills them if it becomes unavoidable. Litigation expenses are part of criminal justice and the agency disburses a considerable amount on this part. FBI also spends its money on investigating crimes that are related to children. FBI also spends its money on victim assistance programs.
Since the FBI is responsible for monitoring and controlling a variety of tasks, the agency needs to invest a huge amount of their budgetary allocations on research and innovation. The agency promotes science and research that empower the agency in different ways. Continuous research in the area of information technology and operations is another area that is necessary for the agency and needs money. These research and innovations are highly required in order to counter new tricks of criminals, terrorists and spies (Wilson et al., 2013).
Having observed an overview of FBI working, revenue and expenditures, this paper concludes that the agency has several crucial responsibilities and needs a huge budget to execute all its responsibilities. The agency is mainly dependent on government funding but has some other sources of revenue. The FBI spends all its expenditures on preserving national security, executing foreign missions and enforcing criminal justice. The agency spends a huge sum of its budgetary allocations on science and research in order to carry out its complex responsibilities and implement its programs. The FBI spends a huge amount of money on the huge manpower and a team of skilled professionals that work unstintingly with the FBI for keeping national interests unharmed.
References
Comey, J. B. (2014, March 26). Testimony. Retrieved from Federal Bureau of Investigation : http://www.fbi.gov/news/testimony/fbi-budget-request-for-fiscal-year-2015
Palmiotto, M. J. (2013). Criminal Investigation, Fourth Edition. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Wilson, J., DiIulio, J., & Bose, M. (2013). American Government: Institutions and Policies. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
