◆ SpookStack

-Q held goal of American law enforcement was achievedf the establishment of an Identification Division. Tracking criminals by means of identification records had been considered a crucial tool of law .enforcement since the 19th century, and matching fingerprints was considered the most accurate method. By 1922, many large cities had started their own fingerprint collections. . _. In keeping with the Progressive Era tradition of federal assistance to localities, the Department of Justice created a Bureau of Criminal Identification in 1905 in order to provide a centralized reference collection of fingerprint cards. In 1907, the collection was moved, as a money-saving measure, to Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary, 'where it was staffed _by convicts. Understandably suspicious of this.arrangement, police departments formed their own centralized identification bureau maintained by the International Association of Chiefs of Police. It refused to share its data with the Bureau of Criminal Investigation. In 1924, Congress was persuaded to merge the two collections in Washington, D.C., under Bureau of Investigation administration. As a result, law enforcement agencies across the country began contributing fingerprint cards to the Bureau of Investigation by 1926. By the end of the decade, Special Agent training was institutionalized, the field office inspection system was solidly in place, and the Identification Division was functioning. In addition, studies were underway that would lead to the creation cf the Technical Laboratory and Uniform Crime Reports. The Bureau was equipped to end the "lawless years." THE New DEAL The 1929 stock market crash and the Great Depression brought hard times to America. Hard times, in turn, created more criminals-and also led Americans to escape their troubles through newspapers, radio, and movies. -- To combat the crime wave, President Franklin D. Roosevelt influenced Congress in his first administration to expand federal jurisdiction, and his Attorney;General, Homer Cummings, fought an unrelenting campaign against rampant interstate crime. A Noting the widespread interest of the media in this war against crime, Hoover carried the message of FBI work through them to the American people. He became as adept at publicizing his agency's work as he was at administering it. Prior to 1933, Bureau Agents had developed an esprit de corps, but the public considered them interchangeable with other federal investigators. Three years later, mere identification with the FBI was a source of special pride to its employees and commanded instant recognition and respect from the public. 5