Why don’t they just call them “agents?” Or how about “federal agents?” I thought about working for the FBI, but I was afraid that if I told someone I was a Special Agent, they’d think I rode the short bus to Quantico.
It’s the whole “give them self-esteem” thing.
The Feds have quite a lot of “Agents”. The guys who do corp tax audits are “Revenue Agents”. AFAIK, there are several agencies that have “Special” agents (even the IRS), and they all get to carry guns.
That then would be my guess based upon the available information; they’re armed.
The History of the FBI page at the official FBI website states that the “FBI originated from a force of Special Agents” who reported to the Attoreny General (DOJ), but doesn’t say why they are called “Special Agents.”
There’s an older thread where one reply states:
A USENET post explains this some more.
I can’t find any official cite to back up this claim.
We have people permitted to legally obligate the government in contracts…we call them Contracting Officers.
Now this is DoD, but I’m not aware of any government agency that applies the name “agent” to their COs.