FBI director praises state partnerships

FBI Director James Comey said Thursday during a visit in Little Rock that the bureau doesn’t fight crime alone. He praised the cooperation between the agency and Arkansas law enforcement agencies in handling drug cases in the state.
FBI Director James Comey said Thursday during a visit in Little Rock that the bureau doesn’t fight crime alone. He praised the cooperation between the agency and Arkansas law enforcement agencies in handling drug cases in the state.

Saying the FBI does nothing alone, Director James Comey praised the relationship between the bureau and Arkansas law enforcement agencies during a Thursday visit to Little Rock.

photo

Little Rock Special Agent in Charge David T. Resch (right) precedes FBI Director James Comey on Thursday to a lectern to speak to the media at the bureau’s Little Rock office.

Comey, 54, met with local and state authorities at the FBI's Little Rock field office during his second official visit to Arkansas as director since taking the job in September 2013.

"Everything we do we do in partnership with somebody else in state, local or federal law enforcement, and it's what makes possible all the good that we do for the American people together," he said. "I'm very proud of the work we did -- again, with our partners -- to try and address violent crime in Mississippi County earlier this month."

Comey was referring to Blynd Justus, an operation initiated Aug. 11 that targeted drug and gun crimes in the northeastern corner of the Arkansas Delta.

A task force of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies partnered for the 18-month-long operation. Forty federal indictments charging 70 people -- mostly residents of Blytheville -- were handed up by a federal grand jury Aug. 5.

The indictments charged people with crimes such as methamphetamine distribution, crack distribution and possession of a firearm by a felon.

As of Thursday afternoon, 67 of the 70 people indicted on federal charges have been arrested.

"We have leads on all three of them," said Chris Givens, an assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas. "They just haven't been apprehended yet."

The investigation was conducted by the FBI and the 2nd Judicial District Drug Task Force, which includes officers from the Blytheville and Osceola police departments and the Mississippi County sheriff's office.

"We are paid to try and do good for the American people, and that is a shining example of all of us coming together to do something good for the American people in a hard-hit community," Comey said.

Investigations such as Blynd Justus start through conversations between local and state law enforcement and the FBI, Comey said. Agents spread across the state are continually talking with local authorities.

Comey said the FBI also depends on local and state law enforcement to help the bureau investigate Islamic State-related activities in all 50 states. Comey said the threat from Islamic extremists isn't just confined to national landmarks, major cities or airports and airplanes.

"It's about this group of savages trying to inspire people to kill where they are," Comey said.

Comey, a University of Chicago Law School graduate, was sworn in as the FBI's director on Sept. 4, 2013, after spending some time in the private sector, including as general counsel and senior vice president at Lockheed Martin.

Before that, he served as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and as deputy attorney general in President George W. Bush's administration.

State Desk on 08/28/2015

Upcoming Events