Hoover, J. Edgar

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Notre Dame Law ReviewVolume 36 | Issue 2 Article 43-1-1961Protecting the Innocent--Law Enforcement'sSacred TaskJ. Edgar HooverFollow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndlrPart of the Law CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by NDLScholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Notre Dame Law Review by anauthorized administrator of NDLScholarship. For more information, please contact lawdr@nd.edu.Recommended CitationJ. E. Hoover, Protecting the Innocent--Law Enforcement's Sacred Task, 36 Notre Dame L. Rev. 158 (1961).Available at: http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndlr/vol36/iss2/4PROTECTING THE INNOCENT-LAW ENFORCEMENT'S SACRED TASKJ. Edgar Hoover*One of the most important espionage cases ever handled by the FBI in-volved Dr. Klaus Fuchs, the bespectacled, shy, German-born communist whotransmitted vital atomic bomb secrets to the Russians during World War II.Never will I forget the day when the FBI first learned of these thefts. Thenation's most highly prized secrets stolen! Our job was to find the guilty indi-viduals-and quickly. Step by step our investigation pointed to Dr. Fuchswho had entered the United States and worked on the atomic bomb as a memberof a British mission-his loyalty certified by British security officials. By now,however, he had returned to England.The FBI promptly furnished the information it had secured incriminatingDr. Fuchs to British security officials who interviewed him. The scientist ad-mitted that he was a Soviet agent and had passed confidential atomic bombinformation while in the United States to another Soviet agent.Who was this second espionage agent? Fuchs did not know his name.A few identifying details he could give, but only a few. The man was in his40's, possibly five feet 10 inches tall, broad build, round face, most likely afirst-generation American. Fuchs had met him several times in the UnitedStates-in New York City, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Santa Fe, NewMexico, in 1944 and 1945. He did not know where the man lived. The manappeared to know something about chemistry and engineering but certainlywas not a nuclear physicist. A meager outline, indeed-one which could fitmillions of Americans!The FBI continued its investigation. Special agents talked to Fuchs' sisterand brother-in-law in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who had seen the unknownespionage agent. Other information was acquired. Gradually a clearer pictureemerged. Then another clue. The stranger's first name might have been"James," with his last name starting with the letters, let us say, "D-a-v.""James Day . . . " - here was something concrete. The question now loomed-was there a "James Day . . . " in any of the locations visited by Fuchs? Thislead was pressed and soon one name stood out above all others, an engineerin New York City whom we'll call James Davidson.Events now moved rapidly. Of a group of photographs of possible suspectsflown to England, Dr. Fuchs rejected all except a picture of the engineer, JamesDavidson. "I think it is the man," Fuchs said. The investigation now seemedto be paying dividends. What we needed was corroborating evidence. Anidentification by Fuchs was not enough. Fuchs' relatives in Cambridge nextviewed Davidson's -photographs. "No," they said, this wasn't the unknownagent. Who was mistaken, Fuchs or his relatives?As we now know, the unknown espionage agent was a moon-faced, stocky,quiet Philadelphia chemist, Harry Gold, currently serving a prison term for hisLL.B., LL.M.; Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation.158PROTECTING THE INNOCENTtraitorous acts. Gold, as a Soviet agent, clandestinely met Fuchs in the UnitedStates, receiving from him technical information about the atomic bomb, whichGold in turn passed to Soviet diplomatic officials.However, originally the finger of suspicion had pointed to an innocent man-James Davidson. The FBI, by painstaking investigation, proved that he wasnot the traitor, that he was not the man who had betrayed vital military secretsto the Russians. This case, to my mind, vividly illustrates how thorough, ac-curate and complete investigations, dedicated to securing the truth, can protectthe innocent. In this case, the FBI's investigation reflected the identity of thetrue traitor-Harry Gold-and a man, identified by Dr. Fuchs as an espionageagent, was proved innocent.Many citizens probably never take the time to realize that one of themost vital functions of law enforcement is proving the innocence of the falselyaccused. To most people, law enforcement's job is to prove guilt. The FBIand other law enforcement agencies, of course, do secure evidence to convictthe guilty. However, they also secure evidence which may exonerate suspects.To my mind, this function of law enforcement-the proving of innocence-istruly one of its most noble services. In America law enforcement is the servantof the people, working for the protection of our historic liberties. The provingof innocence is certainly a vital phase in this sacred task.The very nature of the FBI, with its emphasis on civil liberties, meansprotection for the innocent. The FBI is a fact-gathering agency.1 It does notdecline or authorize prosecution, make recommendations or evaluations. This isthe responsibility of other officials of the government. In making its investiga-tions the FBI is interested in obtaining the facts-accurately, completely andwithout interpretation. This is the search for truth which enables the FBI tofulfill its many responsibilities.By no stretch of the imagination is the FBI a national police, workingas an agency unaccountable to democratic authority. At all times the FBI isresponsible to the Attorney General and the President. I appear each year beforecommittees of the Congress to explain the operations of the FBI. The courtsscrutinize the procedures of the FBI when our cases come to trial. Moreover,a free and vigilant press is ever alert to the FBI's activities. These facts arethe pillars of proof of the FBI's devotion to protecting civil liberties.In law enforcement today, high personnel standards and effective trainingare assurances that civil liberties will be protected. The ability of the FBI tomake fair and complete investigations, as shown in the Dr. Klaus Fuchsespionage case, comes from the high quality of our personnel. For this reason,the FBI very carefully selects2 and trains its special agents. They are men of1 The FBI, as the investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice, has theduty of investigating violations of the laws of the United States, collecting evidence in casesin which the United States is or may be a party in interest, and performing other duties re-quired by law or administrative directive. At the present time it has jurisdiction over morethan 160 investigative matters, both in the criminal and internal security fields.2 To be eligible for appointment as a special agent, applicants must be between 25and 40 years of age; graduates of state-accredited resident law schools or four-year residentaccounting schools with at least three years of practical accounting or auditing experience.Graduates of law schools not requiring at least a resident junior college degree, or its equiva-lent of resident college work, as an admission prerequisite must have received at least a de-NOTRE DAME LAWYERhonor, integrity and high personal principle. They perform their duties efficientlyand effectively. They know that as special agents of the FBI, they are expectedto do their best. They work to secure the facts-facts which may lead to con-viction of the guilty or the established innocence of the falsely accused.Our agents receive special training in protecting the rights of the individual.Before being assigned to field investigative work, for example, special agentsare given a 13-week period of training. Among other things, the new agent istrained in constitutional law and the Bill of Rights. He is taught the rules ofevidence, federal criminal procedure and the laws of arrest. Throughout thetraining course, constant stress is laid on the need of protecting civil liberties.Another assurance of the protection of the innocent is modem crime de-tection methods, such as science and fingerprints. They are truly the good rightarm of law enforcement. In fiscal year 1960, for example, the FBI Laboratory,which was founded in 1932, conducted an all-time high of 210,745 scientificexaminations. The laboratory's facilities are available, free of charge, to anyconstituted law enforcement agency in the nation. Examinations of many typesare conducted by our FBI Laboratory-petrographic, handwriting, chemical,toxicological, metallurgical.To see the FBI Laboratory in action, working on many types of cases,is to realize how frequently the rights of the innocent are protected. In onecase, a brutal murder occurred in a southern state. A suspect was apprehendedby the local sheriff and considerable evidence reflecting his possible guilt wassubmitted to the FBI Laboratory. Our examination, however, reflected no con-nection between the suspect and the victim. In fact, soil from the victim'sclothing and the suspect's clothing were found to be entirely different in physi-cal characteristics and material composition. Later, a shirt button-found nearthe scene of the crime-led to another suspect. When the laboratory examinedthe second suspect's shirt, it was determined that the button found at the crimescene had come from that shirt! Local law enforcement officials later wroteto the FBI expressing gratitude "for the valuable assistance rendered in thisinvestigation which resulted definitely in eliminating ... a suspect in this caseand which helped to point to the individual who has been arrested. .. ."In another case, a government employee was reported to have possiblysigned a Communist Party nominating petition. The FBI conducted an in-vestigation and determined that an individual of a similar name, not identicalwith the government employee, had also resided at the address given by theemployee. The second individual was located and voluntarily furnished samplesof his signature. The FBI Laboratory concluded, after conducting an exami-nation, that the signature appearing on the nominating petition was not writtenby the government employee but by the other person. Hence, through field in-vestigation and the work of the FBI Laboratory, the reputation of an innocentperson was protected.Fingerprints are also performing yeoman service today for law enforce-gree from a resident junior college, or its equivalent in resident college work. The applicantmust also be able to pass a rigid physical examination. Before being offered an appoint-ment, qualified applicants are comprehensively investigated to determine whether theypossess unqualified personal integrity and character.PROTECTING THE INNOCENTment. The FBI Identification Division, founded in 1924, contains over 157million sets of fingerprints. These prints are divided into two main categories:criminal and civil. At the present time there are roughly 37 million prints inthe criminal file and some 120,600,000 prints in the civil file. The identificationdivision represents a national clearinghouse for fingerprints. Each workdayduring the 1960 fiscal year, for example, an average of 20,484 sets of finger-prints were received for processing. The facilities of the FBI Identification Di-vision, like the FBI Laboratory, are available free of charge to local law en-forcement. In this way, law enforcement throughout the nation benefits. Ofalmost 2,000,000 arrest fingerprint cards submitted during fiscal year 1960,for instance, the identification division was able to identify almost 77 per centwith fingerprint records of persons who previously had been arrested!In the final analysis, the best protection for civil liberties is an effectivelaw enforcement, utilizing the latest techniques of crime detection-science,fingerprints, training. Violations of civil liberties, such as brutality and thirddegree methods, stem from an untrained law enforcement. Today the standardsof the profession are rising and there are fewer and fewer infringements ofrights. As long as America has law enforcement officers as interested in provinginnocence as securing evidence to convict the guilty, our nation will be secure.In 1936, 10-year-old Charles Fletcher Mattson was kidnaped from hishome at Tacoma, Washington. His mutilated body was later found near aroad. The FBI-all these years-has been actively investigating this kidnaping.It is not yet solved. To date, over 25,000 suspects have been investigated andeliminated. They were not guilty of the kidnaping. The FBI's investigationcontinues. This case reflects the FBI's determination to secure the full facts-and in the process it has proved the innocence of over 25,000 suspects!America can feel proud of the integrity, diligence and efficiency of its lawenforcement agencies. The FBI is glad to be a part of this excellent team.This is a law enforcement dedicated to protecting the rights, lives and propertyof the people. Every year their investigations prove the innocence of thousandsof individuals falsely accused. This is a sacred task of law enforcement, a nobleobligation in a free society.

Protecting the Innocent--Law Enforcement\u27s Sacred Task

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Protecting the Innocent--Law Enforcement\u27s Sacred Task

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