From English Major at LSU To Special Agent in Charge at the FBI Cassandra Chandler is on a Career Path to the Top

Black Collegian, Oct 2005

Q First, tell us about the FBI: What is it and what is its mission?

A Officially, the mission of the FBI is to "protect and defend the United States against terrorist and foreign intelligence The FBI has 10 priorities, in the following order: protect the United States from terrorist attack; protect the United States against foreign intelligence operations and espionage; protect the United States against cyber-based attacks and high-technology crimes; combat public corruption at all levels; protect civil rights; combat transnational and national criminal organizations and enterprises; combat major white-collar crime; combat significant violent crime; support federal, state, local and international partners; and upgrade technology to successfully perform the FBI's mission.

Q What attracted you to the FBI?

A A career with the FBI never occurred to me initially. In my family and my hometown in Louisiana, when we thought of the FBI, we thought of J. Edgar Hoover and his treatment of Martin Luther King Jr. I wanted to become an attorney, and my mother always talked to me about sitting on the Supreme Court like Thurgood Marshall. In 1982, I was working at a TV station in New Orleans while I was attending law school at Loyola University. One evening I took a call from a man who said he had robbed a bank in Washington, D.C, and had shot and killed a teller. FIe was hiding in the French Quarter and wanted to surrender to the police, but wanted the media on hand so the police wouldn't shoot him. My producer told me to call the FBI. The agent who interviewed me was also recruiting for the agency. I was very impressed with him. That started my relationship with the FBI.

Q Tell us about your background. What did you do before joining the FBI?

A I studied journalism and English at Louisiana State University and was hired by a TV station in Baton Rouge, La., as an anchor and reporter. I stayed there for four years before going to law school. After law school, I held a few clerkships and practiced law with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. But I was drawn to the FBI because of my experience with the investigator and because it sounded exciting. I've always liked James Bond and I thought if I went to the FBI I'd get all those James Bond toys and James Bond cars, and I'd get to travel. Of course it didn't work out exactly that way, but I've had some pretty interesting cases and used some remarkable technology.

Q What do you do now, and what was your career path to what you do now at the FBI?

A Right now, I'm the Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the Norfolk field office in Virginia, responsible for all the operations in that office. I started that job in September of 2005. Prior to that, I was the Assistant Director of the Office on Public Affairs, in charge of public and employee communications. That entailed everything from relationships with national media to speechwriting, from overseeing the FBI's public website to building community relations.

Getting here was a long road, and one that I wouldn't have expected when I signed up as an agent in 1985. I've worked all over the country-in places like New Orleans, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Washington and here in Norfolk-and in all kinds of jobs. I've investigated white-collar crimes, violent crimes, and civil rights. I helped set up our Health Care Fraud Program in the early 1990s. I was a section chief over our analytical intelligence program for criminal and domestic terrorism, and head of our Training Division. I got that position in December 2002, when the Director was looking for someone who could explain to the American people our post-9/11 transformation during a time of great scrutiny and change for the FBI. I think he saw my background in journalism, my diverse experience, and my passion for the Bureau and felt I was the right person for the job.

Q To whom do you attribute your success?

A I would attribute it first to God. I have a very strong faith in God. Every difficult decision I make, I make in prayer. I also thank my mother, who nurtured my faith and taught me history. Also, my husband. He's been a friend, a mentor and a guide. Then there's my son, who just makes life a blessing. I've been blessed with just the right people at just the right time.

Q What personal traits have helped you most in your career with the FBI?

A I'm mildly - mildly - obsessive compulsive It helps me to multi-task and keep things in order, keep things moving. I'm also very analytical. I'm curious. What I see on the surface is never enough. I have to see a little bit more. I'm assertive. That helps when people think I'm not up to the task. But I'm outgoing and I'm fair. I make sure that I am accountable for the people who work for me. And I believe in laughter. You've got to look at life and laugh a little.

Q Tell us about diversity and the FBI and about its commitment to create a more diverse workforce.

A Director Mueller is absolutely committed to assuring diversity at the bureau. We have many programs in place to recruit a more diverse range of applicants, including ad campaigns that feature minorities. Our goal is to mirror the society we serve and we keep statistics on the diversity of our workforce to see how we are doing. For example, at the end of February, 32.2 percent of our agents were minorities or women. We want to see those numbers rise. On the support side, 72 percent of our workers are minorities or women. Support staff includes the intelligence analysts, writers and other professionals who are not agents. So overall, more than 50 percent of our workers are women or minorities.