Mission and Priorities

Our mission is to protect the American people and uphold the U.S. Constitution.

Our Priorities 

Terrorism

Protect the U.S. from terrorist attack

Counterintelligence

Protect the U.S. against foreign intelligence, espionage, and cyber operations

Cybercrime

Combat significant cyber criminal activity

Public Corruption

Combat public corruption at all levels

Civil Rights

Protect civil rights

Transnational Organized Crime

Combat transnational criminal enterprises

White-Collar Crime

Combat significant white-collar crime

Violent Crime

Combat significant violent crime

FBI Strategy 

Managing an organization as large and complex as the FBI requires a definitive idea of where we are now and where we hope to be in five years, 10 years, and 20 years. That’s where our strategy comes in. The FBI strategy enables Bureau leaders and managers to define and pursue objectives crucial to mission success, prioritize resources to achieve those objectives, track progress along the way, address gaps when identified, and, most importantly, deliver consistent results. 

The FBI strategy is periodically reviewed and adapted to align with the changing threat landscape and organizational climate.

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Strategy Elements

Mission 

Our mission encompasses all that we do as an organization—protect the American people and uphold the Constitution of the United States. 

Mission Priorities

Our mission priorities assist us to determine where to focus our efforts and resources in order to mitigate threats and move toward accomplishing our vision. The eight mission priorities outline how we protect the American people and uphold the Constitution of the United States.

We considered these questions when determining our mission priorities: 

• What are those realities that most threaten the security of the United States? 
• What are the threats to our way of life that the American people need the FBI to address first? 
• To what degree do the threats fall most exclusively within the FBI’s jurisdiction and competencies? 

Core Values 

Our core values—respect, integrity, accountability, leadership, diversity, compassion, fairness, and rigorous obedience to the Constitution—are the foundation of our organization and should be incorporated into everything we do. 

Enterprise Objectives 

Our enterprise objectives are where we need to focus over the next three to five years to move the FBI forward. Our enterprise objectives each align to one of the guiding principles. 

Guiding Principles 

Our four guiding principles—people, partnerships, process, and innovation—help us organize the changes needed to accomplish our vision.

Vision 

As we build momentum around our enterprise objectives, we will better accomplish our mission and begin to achieve our vision. Our vision is where we want to be: Ahead of the Threat. 

What We Investigate

Terrorism

To counter terrorism, the FBI's top investigative priority, we use our investigative and intelligence capabilities to neutralize domestic extremists and help dismantle terrorist networks worldwide.

Cybercrime

The FBI is the lead federal agency for investigating cyberattacks by criminals, overseas adversaries, and terrorists. The threat is incredibly serious—and growing.

Counterintelligence

The FBI is the lead agency for exposing, preventing, and investigating intelligence activities, including espionage, in the U.S.

Civil Rights

The FBI, the lead agency for enforcing civil rights law, aggressively investigates hate crime, color of law abuses by public officials, human trafficking and involuntary servitude, and freedom of access to clinic entrances violations.

Public Corruption

Public corruption is the FBI’s top criminal investigative priority, that includes border corruption, election crimes, international corruption and prison corruption.

Weapons of Mass Destruction

The Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate investigates and works to prevent incidents involving nuclear, radiological, biological, or chemical weapons.

Transnational Organized Crime

The FBI is dedicated to eliminating transnational organized crime groups that pose the greatest threat to the national and economic security of the United States.

Violent Crime

The FBI, with its law enforcement partners, plays a key role in combating violent crime involving gangs, crimes against children, crimes in Indian Country, fugitives and missing persons, kidnappings, and bank robberies.

White-Collar Crime

These crimes are not violent, but they are not victimless. White-collar crimes can destroy a company, wipe out a person's life savings, cost investors billions of dollars, and erode the public's trust in institutions.

Environmental Crime

The FBI investigates criminal cases that have violated U.S. laws intended to protect the environment, human health, worker safety, and animal welfare.