The Wrangell sentinel., 1937-05-07
THE "G-MEN" TO ALASKA

Announcement is made that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is to open an office in Juneau. In oth- CT words Alaska is going to have what have become known as the "G-Men," or government men whose principal duty is crime control and prevention.
 Fortunately, Alaska is not the stamping grounds of the criminal element. We have no crime wave with which to hit the first pages of the newspaper. We ave no sensa- tional Kidnapping case for the e. Men" to move in on. In fact, we are fairly well behaved 6O,000 persons and as a result many will wonder why the "G-Men.'
 Unless we have been badly duped, the Bureau of Investigation is not coming to Alaska to uncover a great crime, expose what they like to re- fer to in the States as a racket, D or to probe into the personal lives of the Alaskans. Rather, it is our belief, it is being eXtented to the Territory to carry out the major purpose for which it was created-- prevention and control of crime and as a support to existing law enforce ment agencies, working with the Marshals' offices and District Attor- neys.
 Aside from it's well trained per 1 sonnel, the Bureau of Investigation has an authority which other law enforcement agencies do not have. 1 It jumps red tape" or regulations and boundary lines which bind oth- CT agencies to certain procedure. i It's success in large degree can be attributed to the fact that when necessary 1t can strike any place, any time and with complete author 1 ity. An enlightening insight was given by J. Edgar Hoover, it's chief. recently when he said:
 If the Federal Bureau of Invos- tigation has accomplished encour- aging results there is something more to this accomplishment than 1 the fact that it is free from political domination, that it appoints young men as special agents of alertness and integrity and intelligence, that | it has the best training methods possible to procure and that if func- | tions as a somoth-working body of common purpose and high enthusi- asm. The other integral is the fact that it has public support, public interest and public scrutiny. The Federal Bureau of Investigation wants every citizen to know about it's organization. It expects and de- sires to be on view and on trial dur ing every minute of it's official life, | because we know that when the ! public is interested, there is that common ground of achievement by which every one can work toward success.
 "The Bureau believes that the public may well increase its inter est in law enforcement problems and that it should do so for it's own good If the Federal Bureau of In- vestigation in Washington is of suf- ficient interest that persons travel across the country to see it, then your local enforcement should be of sufficient interest So that you may be impelled to learn all you can about it. It seems to me that it is the ruty of the citien to look to his local enforcement with the same en- thusiasm and the same desire for helpfulness and the same eagerness for knowledge which he has been kind enough to bestow upon the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Once this is done, once law-enforce- ment becomes 8 matter of enthus- iastic participation by the average citizen I believe that great day will have arrived, a day when we can begin to compress that imaginary stadium of criminality into the vast