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FBI Delays Computer-System Contract

Carl Bialik from the WSJ writes "The FBI postponed until 2006 the awarding of a huge computer-overhaul contract, gun-shy after a $170 million failed first effort, the Wall Street Journal reports: 'Much is riding on the project's success. Congress and other overseers pilloried the FBI for its reliance on paper records, forms and file cabinets. The FBI only last year completed the rollout of the Internet to its agents and analysts. And even though the bureau installed a computerized case-management system in the mid-1990s, it relied largely on aging, less-agile technology to do so. And it did little to eliminate the department's notorious number of paper forms -- currently numbering more than 1,000.'"

3 of 112 comments (clear)

  1. The cheapest solution is readily available! by dada21 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Disband the FBI.

    The U.S. Constitution has no provision for a federal police force, in fact, it is very against a federal military to be used against the state's citizens.

    The FBI has been found to destroy constitutional protections at will, and that is only when we've caught them.

    The FBI has historically been used as a fear tactic against the citizen base. They warred against the Black Panthers, and your parents or grandparents might remember the famous "an FBI agent behind every mailbox" line that was often quoted.

    What is the solution for "policing" interstate offense? Primarily it should be left to the individual cities. Offer private security companies to create a secondary network to allow police stations to communicate. The systems are there.

    The great thing about dumping the FBI's powers into the local level is that every citizen can monitor what their government is spending and doing. The FBI hides behind official securities regulations, and the FOIA doesn't help. We're looking at a grossly overbudgeted organization that isn't even legal or needed by this country. How about putting a few grand back in everyone's pocket and letting the cities decide how badly they want to monitor criminals that decide to move elsewhere.

    1. Re:The cheapest solution is readily available! by dada21 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Of those laws, 24,997 of them are likely unconstitutional.

      Federal crimes that are in the domain of a federal police force are counterfeiting, piracy on the high seas, and treason. The last crime is one we should be using against those making the other 24,997 laws on the books.

    2. Re:The cheapest solution is readily available! by chef_raekwon · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      there are a number of US agencies that defy all that is constitutional in the US. Why complain only about the FBI? Don't Americans have the CIA, the IRS, the Military, MiB and others to deal with? All of these groups take federal cash dollars and $pend without constraint, all the while never having to face prosecution because they are government agencies.

      For a country that preaches Freedom, you guys sure are well controlled.

      --
      We're like rats, in some experiment! -- George Costanza