FBI Director Talks Threats and Partnerships During First Visit to ND as FBI Director – InForum

BISMARCK — FBI Director Christopher Wray made his first visit to North Dakota on Thursday, Aug. 22, in an effort to strengthen partnerships he called “critical” to his agency’s mission.

Now in his seventh year of the 10-year maximum prison sentence, Wray spoke with local, state, tribal and other federal partners to better understand the unique challenges facing North Dakota law enforcement and how the FBI can better collaborate as law enforcement at all levels is operating with fewer resources amid heightened concerns.

Wray discussed the FBI’s top law enforcement priorities in North Dakota in an exclusive interview with The Forum about these partnerships following the meetings.

“We focus on violent crime and the intersection of drug trafficking and violent crime, and of course there are very specific challenges as it relates to Indian Country,” Wray said. “Also in North Dakota, there are national security threats that we work with the military, particularly the Air Force, to help protect them from everything from foreign hostile attempts to cyber targeting.”

He added that child exploitation as a specific form of violent crime is a “particularly serious and heartbreaking” issue the FBI is working on in the state.

The state’s vast open spaces and the geographic reach of rural reservations and counties can magnify these problems, he said.

“When I think about North Dakota, our partners and our people here cover so much ground, both figuratively and literally. It’s a challenge to be everywhere. We and our partners have to do research over such vast expanses of land while we’re all dealing with limited resources,” Wray said.

One way the FBI has tried to fill some of those gaps is through its task forces, Wray said. The FBI is the primary federal law enforcement agency investigating major crimes, including murder, sexual abuse and aggravated assault, on reservations. Through the Headwaters and Missouri River Safe Trails task forces, which operate in North Dakota, the bureau is able to work with several other federal agencies, including the Bureau of Indian Affairs, tribal police departments and state and local law enforcement on those cases.

He said the FBI is also taking more proactive approaches to combat crime before it happens, which means working with nontraditional and nonlaw enforcement agencies.

“We have something called threat assessment, threat management. The concept is to bring together other parts of the community or the system — mental health providers, school counselors, the VA, social workers — so that collectively we can try to get ahead of a threat, something that could turn into violence, before it happens,” Wray said.

He said the concept is a vital tool in combating a worrying new trend.

“We’re seeing an alarming increase — at least as a percentage, and perhaps even in absolute terms — in juvenile participation in violent crime of all types and sizes. Particularly when you’re talking about juvenile offenders, every tool in the toolbox is needed for early intervention,” Wray said.

The director said that while violent crime has declined nationwide after reaching “really dramatic heights” following the pandemic, “it remains at unacceptably high levels in far too many communities.”

In addition to working with the military in North Dakota, Wray said the FBI also relies on the business community, energy sector and academia “to build resilience against various types of national security and cyber threats. Partnerships with these types of entities are critical to our success.”

Burleigh County Sheriff Kelly Leben attended the Thursday morning meetings. He said Wray’s visit was a welcome gesture.

“It was refreshing to have him here in person and hear our thoughts and concerns,” Leben said. “He listened attentively to what we had to say and it’s clear that he is aware of and values ​​the relationship with state and local law enforcement in North Dakota.”

Earlier in the week, Wray also visited the FBI offices in South Dakota and Minnesota.