What is the history of local law enforcement agency intelligence gathering?
Historically, local law enforcement involvement in intelligence followed the FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] model in the 1920s. The FBI in the 1920s started keeping dossiers of people, such as Bonnie and Clyde and Al Capone, who were involved in organized crime activity. Local law enforcement [agencies] emulated that idea when they started their own record-keeping systems. They started keeping files on people they felt were a threat to their community. In the 1930s during the Depression Era, not much happened. In the 1940sduring World War IIand the 1950s local law enforcement agencies went back to this dossier style of keeping intelligence files. In the 1950s, local law enforcement agencies started keeping files on people who were not involved in criminal acts. Some of these people were making what other people felt were anti-government statementsthis was part of the Red Scare of the 1950s. These people were doing nothing more than exercising their constitutional right to freedo
