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Agency official says agency rebuilt infrastructure, supplied 'Bearcats' to field teams after Alabama rescue
Summary
An agency official said the agency spent the past year rebuilding its backbone infrastructure so agents nationwide would have the same tools, including armored 'Bearcats' for SWAT teams, and cited a recent Alabama rescue as justification. The official criticized unnamed others for failing to equip personnel and relying on the agency's reputation.
An agency official said the organization spent the past year "rebuilding our entire backbone infrastructure" so that "an agent in the field in Omaha should have the exact same toolkit as a guy in New York City." The official said that effort included equipping SWAT teams with armored vehicles known as "Bearcats."
"We got them Bearcats in the field," the agency official said, adding that improved tools are necessary for tactics such as fast-roping from helicopters and rescuing hostages. The official cited a recent overnight rescue in Alabama of a woman who had been held at gunpoint as an example of the kind of operation that requires those resources.
The speaker criticized unnamed predecessors or other officials who, the speaker said, "just kept repeating the past hyperbole and resting on the history of the FBI, saying, we're great and we're going to get there." No formal policy vote or motion was recorded in the transcript.
