Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Special Agent - and inside view
Inside knowledge is valuable currency for any mystery writer, but have you ever considered the plight of an expert forced to read a story with obvious factual errors?
It was in this spirit that John Gamel, private investigator, US Navel officer, reporter, news anchor and 22-year veteran of the FBI volunteered to share some of his experience with members of Mystery Writes of America New England Chapter.
Short facts
What you did before, leads to what you do next. The Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the Boston filed office assigned John to investigate public corruption based on his journalist experience with the Massachusetts State House.
Crooks sometimes win big. As a Special Agent, John was instrumental in confiscating State Lottery winnings from one of the ten most wanted criminals, Whitey Bolger.
If you're a self-confessed adrenaline junky they give you a gun. As a firearm instructor and SWAT team member for 12 years, John had best time in his FBI career.
In a 22-year career, Special Agent Gamel, practiced firing his gun over 60,000 times, but did not fire his weapon once in the line of duty.
The FBI has a mandatory retirement age of 57.
A lot of work is boring. John was on a stake out every Wednesday morning from May 1990 to January 1991, in anticipation of an armed robbery at a Bank in Methuen Mall. A mock bank was set up at Fort Devons for practice, just before the robbery target switched to Abingdon.
Informants are the key asset for an Agent.
The Witness Protection Program does not exist. It is the Witness Security Program.
Tension between FBI and local enforcement agencies is overstated. Law enforcement in the USA is in them main, handled locally.
There are 16,000 local law enforcement agencies, with 13,500 local police and the remainder is local sheriff's staff.
People at headquarters rarely go out in the field; field agents do the work.
Private Investigation
Private investigation, although licensed is not well regulated, but it helps to have a list of investigators in other states, under whose license you can work whilst working out of your home state.
It was in this spirit that John Gamel, private investigator, US Navel officer, reporter, news anchor and 22-year veteran of the FBI volunteered to share some of his experience with members of Mystery Writes of America New England Chapter.
Short facts
What you did before, leads to what you do next. The Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the Boston filed office assigned John to investigate public corruption based on his journalist experience with the Massachusetts State House.
Crooks sometimes win big. As a Special Agent, John was instrumental in confiscating State Lottery winnings from one of the ten most wanted criminals, Whitey Bolger.
If you're a self-confessed adrenaline junky they give you a gun. As a firearm instructor and SWAT team member for 12 years, John had best time in his FBI career.
In a 22-year career, Special Agent Gamel, practiced firing his gun over 60,000 times, but did not fire his weapon once in the line of duty.
The FBI has a mandatory retirement age of 57.
A lot of work is boring. John was on a stake out every Wednesday morning from May 1990 to January 1991, in anticipation of an armed robbery at a Bank in Methuen Mall. A mock bank was set up at Fort Devons for practice, just before the robbery target switched to Abingdon.
Informants are the key asset for an Agent.
The Witness Protection Program does not exist. It is the Witness Security Program.
Tension between FBI and local enforcement agencies is overstated. Law enforcement in the USA is in them main, handled locally.
There are 16,000 local law enforcement agencies, with 13,500 local police and the remainder is local sheriff's staff.
People at headquarters rarely go out in the field; field agents do the work.
Private Investigation
Private investigation, although licensed is not well regulated, but it helps to have a list of investigators in other states, under whose license you can work whilst working out of your home state.
