# FBI Special Agents **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 21, 2010, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-special-agents/533263 "2010-03-21T20:08:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-special-agents/533263/1 "2010-03-21T20:08:39Z")
Every agent of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation seems to be officially termed a “Special Agent”. What’s so special about them? Are there not-special FBI agents? ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-special-agents/533263/2 "2010-03-21T20:24:30Z")
I have often wondered why they are special and are all agents special. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-special-agents/533263/3 "2010-03-21T20:32:54Z")
Curiously enough, a Google search on the question brings up only a Straight Dope thread from ten years ago which, typically, contains several answers. 😃 [Here 'tis.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=28578&highlight=special+agent) ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-special-agents/533263/4 "2010-03-21T20:37:24Z")
Hmm, that link has three different answers, none with citation. Anyone have an authoritative answer? ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-special-agents/533263/5 "2010-03-21T20:54:59Z")
I don’t, but the [FBI](http://www.fbi.gov/fbihistorybook.htm#chapter1) does > [@](#): > > In 1908 when Attorney General Charles Bonaparte reorganized the Department’s investigators into a “special agent force,” he hired nine Treasury investigators as special agents and put them together with 13 peonage investigators and 12 bank examiners. Whether all or some of the peonage investigators were called special agents is not known. The bank examiners were accountants and were originally called “special examiners.” A distinction immediately arose between special agents and special examiners. This distinction existed into the 1930s, when it was decided that all investigative agents—agents and accountants—were to be called special agents. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-special-agents/533263/6 "2010-03-21T20:59:07Z")
I once read (no cite, sorry, but IIRC it was a reputable source) that J. Edgar Hoover wanted to distinguish his men from the many state police and private security agents around the country already, to indicate that FBI men were a cut above. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-special-agents/533263/7 "2010-03-21T21:18:37Z")
So, are there any non-investigative, non-special FBI agents? ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-special-agents/533263/8 "2010-03-21T21:25:02Z")
If you’re an agent, you’re special. If you aren’t special, there are plenty of other [FBIJobs](http://www.fbijobs.gov/12.asp). ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-special-agents/533263/9 "2010-03-21T21:55:57Z")
Special Agent is a job classification as defined by the federal government. “Within the U.S. government, the title of Special Agent is used to describe any federal criminal or noncriminal investigator or detective in the 1811, 1801, 2501, or similar job series as so titled according to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) handbook” From here: > **[Special agent](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_agent)** > > In the United States, a special agent is an official term used to refer to an investigator or detective for a federal or state government or independent agency, who primarily serves in criminal investigatory positions. Additionally, many federal and state special agents operate in "criminal intelligence" based roles as well. Within the U.S. federal law enforcement system, dozens of federal agencies employ federal law enforcement officers, each with different criteria pertaining to the use of the... Investigators from other government agencies, like NCIS, are Special Agents too. Not specific to the FBI. Just a federal job classification for investigators. [http://www.ncis.navy.mil/join/agent.asp](http://www.ncis.navy.mil/join/agent.asp)