http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14362297&BRD=1574&PAG=461&dept_id=532238&rfi=6
By VALARIE TORRES
Citizen Reporter
04/18/2005
Pasadena Rotary Club members were informed of the increasing worldwide
security efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation at their
afternoon meeting Friday. Since Sept. 11, 2001, the United States has
become more precocious regarding the security of the state. Roderick
L. Beverly, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Houston field
office, spoke to Rotarians about the agency's efforts to provide
better security for the nation and what the community can do to help.
Beverly, whose career began in law enforcement as a deputy sheriff,
worked as a special agent with the North Carolina State Bureau of
Investigation, then entered the FBI in the early 1980s and has since
traveled to San Diego, Miami, and many other states primarily working
in the Organized Crime and Drug divisions of the FBI. His
international experience with the agency includes his work as the
Assistant Legal Attaché for the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, Colombia.
The agency's Houston division, where Beverly works, is the regional
center for the Texas coastal bend, which extends from Texas's Gulf
Coast to Louisiana. The region includes the cities of Houston,
Beaumont, Bryan, Corpus Christi, Conroe, Texas City and Victoria. This
division, one of the 10 largest in the FBI, covers 40 counties and
roughly 16 million people.
Beverly showed a film about a legal attaché's international
investigations regarding terrorism or the threat of it. Beverly
painted a realistic picture of an agent's duties in foreign countries.
Not allowed to carry a handgun, agents normally travel with only their
passport and FBI identification badge for protection abroad. The film
revealed the diplomacy involved in creating open forums of
communication with countries suspected of supporting terrorism.
"We want to give a face to the FBI," said Beverly, referring to his
presentation at Rotary.
Beverly talked about new developments within different departments to
fight terrorism. The FBI has beefed up its Joint Terrorism Task Force
and has created the Greater Houston Regional Computer Forensic
Laboratory to combat cyber terrorism.
Beverly ended his presentation by acknowledging the public's help in
the FBI's efforts to secure the nation. He asked that the community
continue to support the agency's actions and thanked Rotarians for
inviting him.
"We can't function without the credibility from the community,"
Beverly said, "It makes no difference how big our budgets are . . .
unless we have the support of the community we can't work."
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