New FBI Boss: Partnerships crucial to keeping the peace

NEWSMAKERS
January 27, 2016
Longtime Vandebilt coach passes away
January 27, 2016
NEWSMAKERS
January 27, 2016
Longtime Vandebilt coach passes away
January 27, 2016

The veteran federal lawman now directing Federal Bureau of Investigation operations throughout Louisiana says he is settled in and ready to use his experience in corruption, organized crime and homeland security investigations to help keep local communities safe.


But to effectively do that, says Jeffrey S. Sallet, Special Agent in Charge at the FBI’s New Orleans Division, everyone needs to help.

The Bayou Region’s oilfield-related infrastructure and events drawing large crowds, like Carnival celebrations, all pose potentials for security problems, and Sallet says the nation’s first line of defense is the eyes and ears of locals.

“There are so many examples of communities solving crimes and local police solving crimes,” Sallet said. “Eric Rudolph, a rookie local police officer saw him go to a dumpster. Who prevented the Times Square bombing? A hotdog vendor. If you look at some of these examples, it’s citizens, local law enforcement, who are the eyes and ears on the street, the street cops and the people.”


The mantra “if you see something say something” is more than just a slogan to Sallet, who sees partnerships between local citizens, local and state law enforcement as well as his agency making the critical difference.

In the short time since he took over the New Orleans field office, Sallet says he has become familiar with the personnel assets under his direct command, and is pleased with their performance and potential.

“This division is incredibly talented, we have employees who really care and go the extra mile,” he said. “This place has exceeded my expectations.”


Prior to entering the FBI in 1997, Sallet worked for several worldwide professional services firms, first as an auditor and then as a forensic accountant. He is a certified public accountant and also holds certification in financial forensics. His first assignment was with the New York Division, where he investigated organized crime, public corruption, labor racketeering, and counterterrorism matters. Within a year, he was heavily involved as case agent on the investigation of the Bonanno crime family, doing work that led to the toppling of the organization’s boss, Joseph Massino, and more than 100 organized crime figures involved with the crime family’s operations. More than 30 cold case murders were solved in connection with the Massino case; Sallet said it all started, for him, with forensic accounting examinations, the bedrock of what would later come.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, Sallet was chosen to perform financial investigations that identified the funding of the attacks, and tracked the financial assets of the terrorist group Al Qaeda. In 2005, he was the supervisory special agent in the transnational organized crime eastern hemisphere section of the FBI, managing La Cosa Nostra investigations throughout the northeast, and was promoted in 2007 to head up the Providence, R.I. branch of the FBI’s Boston Division, working narcotics, organized crime, gangs and violent crime investigations.

In 2007, Sallet was promoted to supervisory special agent in the Boston Division, Providence, Rhode Island Resident Agency, where he was responsible for narcotics, organized crime, gangs, and violent crime investigations. His time within the Boston Division led to a cooperative law enforcement effort that resulted in the indictment and conviction of New England mob boss Luigi “Baby Shanks” Manocchio.


Taking the post of assistant special agent in charge of the Boston Division in 2012, Sallet was responsible for all white collar, public corruption, health care fraud and civil rights cases. After the Boston Marathon bombings he was chosen to run that division’s counterterrorism and crisis management program, relying heavily on partnership with local law enforcement agencies.

When New Orleans FBI chief Michael Anderson was tapped to head the Bureau’s Chicago operations, agency director James Comey chose Sallet to be his replacement.

So far, Sallet says the cooperation between his agency and local Louisiana law enforcement has been beneficial to smooth operations. He looks forward to building on those ties in the future.


“Partnerships are critical to everything we do and we are interfacing every day with federal, state, and local agencies,” Sallet said. “Law enforcement is a team sport, not an individual sport. Drew Brees is pretty impressive, but the Saints are not playing as a team in the same way the New England Patriots are playing as a team.” •

Jeffrey S. Sallet, Special Agent in Charge, FBICOURTESY