Editorial: Study on FBI off the mark

Friday, Aug. 1, 1997 | 11:33 a.m.

That's a fair way to characterize research commissioned by The Nation magazine and compiled by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse on the performance of the FBI between 1992 and 1996. Transactional researchers David Burnham and Susan Long ripped the agency, but we believe they're way off the mark.

They published seemingly unflattering statistics about Nevada FBI agents, even though they consistently rank among the tops in the nation in convictions per capita.

The state's average prison term for federal crimes was reported as 40.5 months, while the national average was more than a year longer. Local agents also were tarred because less than half their cases were prosecuted by the U.S. attorney's office.

The study was useless, however, because it was overly broad and didn't account for regional crime trends. There is nothing in the report that explains why Nevada ranks below the national average in sentencing, or why less than half of the cases were prosecuted.

The researchers did a disservice because they failed to interpret the statistics as they relate to Nevada. On that basis alone, the study deserves to be tossed into the nearest trashbin.

On top of that, some of the report's suggestions bordered on the ridiculous. It recommended that easily prosecutable cases -- bank robberies, for instance -- be turned over to local police so federal agents can concentrate on violations of antitrust laws, health and safety crimes, police and prison guard brutality and environmental crimes.

Chasing bank robbers has been the most visible staple of the FBI since its inception. The entertainment industry long has capitalized on this, so much so that movies and television shows likely have been useful tools for recruiting agents. The FBI always gets the bad guy in the end, or so Hollywood tells us.

The study obviously failed to consider that bank robberies are commonly pulled off by transients who drift from state to state. Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker captured the nation's attention in the 1930s when they killed 15 people, while robbing more than a dozen banks in eight states before they were gunned down in Louisiana.

It is precisely because of the transient nature of bank robbers that the FBI must remain the lead agency for such crimes.

It also must be noted that types of crime also can vary from community to community because of unique characteristics. That alone warps crime statistics.

Las Vegas has a high number of bank robberies largely because it has numerous branch banks. Travel to a city such as El Paso, Texas, and you'll find very few branches outside downtown. El Paso also doesn't have Las Vegas' thriving economy. Unfortunately, many branch banks are inviting targets because they're thin on security.

Another unfortunate aspect of Southern Nevada is that it attracts a large number of hucksters who set up illegal telemarketing operations. One reason they come here is because they prey on our large senior citizen population. Florida has high levels of white-collar crime for similar reasons.

However, recent efforts by the Clinton administration through Attorney General Janet Reno to have the FBI crack down on white-collar crime means that the study is not only useless but outdated.