New FBI Director James Comey talks with reporters in Milwaukee
MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- FBI Director James Comey was in Milwaukee on Tuesday, April 15th -- delivering news and receiving feedback from law enforcement officials. He also answered questions in a give-and-take with reporters.
"It's great to be a new boss and talk about good news," Comey said on Tuesday.
Comey is the new FBI Director, and he's visiting all 56 field offices around the country -- talking with staff and other law enforcement officials.
"I'm going to hire a thousand people between now and October 1st -- hundreds of special agents and analysts and support. Then another thousand or more after October 1. So that's a relief to the people of Milwaukee who have been working short-handed for quite a while," Comey said.
Those new hires will be tasked with dealing with an ever-growing and deadly problem in Milwaukee and beyond: heroin.
"The availability of cheap, highly pure heroin is gaining market share -- if you can talk in those terms in the drug world. From methamphetamine, from pills and very, very often being used by young people who don't understand its power and its purity and the ravenous addiction that comes with heroin," Comey said.
Another big issue in Milwaukee and beyond is the issue of human trafficking.
"It has tons of different dimensions because it's kids. It may be foreigners from a particular area, it may be migrant workers. All different kinds of human beings are being trafficked and treated as if they're modern-day slaves," Comey said.
On the anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombings, Comey says one issue still stands above all others.
"The FBI's number one priority is, should be, remains counter-terrorism. It's a promise that we've made to people after 9/11 that we would do everything in our power to keep them from a terrorist attack. It's something I wake up every morning worrying about and go to be every night worrying about," Comey said.
Comey answered questions for about 25 minutes on topics ranging from illegal guns to the use of drones by the FBI to NSA spying.
He says there is nothing the FBI does without the help of local law enforcement which is why he met with the different agencies in the area on Tuesday.