FBI director: New Milwaukee field office expected to "make us more effective"

ST. FRANCIS -- The Milwaukee FBI field office is getting a new home. The bureau's employees are moving from their downtown Milwaukee location to a scenic spot in St. Francis.

The Milwaukee FBI field office celebrated the official opening of its new home on Wednesday morning, June 1st.

FBI Milwaukee Division

"This is about giving you the space, the safety, the technology, the stuff that you need to be great," said FBI Director James Comey.

The move was big enough to garner a visit from the FBI director himself.

FBI Director James Comey

"It was so important for me to be part of this to celebrate this that honestly, I blew off a meeting with the president of the United States," Comey said.

FOX6 News is told the new facility is actually about 9,000 square feet smaller than the FBI's previous Milwaukee location. However, it is expected the work space will be both more efficient and more effective.

"This space, although it's smaller, is designed in a way that we actually have more space for people," Comey said. "And so our partners, state and local law enforcement  especially, will have desks to sit with us and work with us. That will make us more effective."

FBI Milwaukee Division

The FBI's director also said the new space comes with a security advantage.

"Especially with today's threat environment, in having an adequate setback from people who might try to detonate a vehicle born explosive device, that's an important component of this," Comey said.

Comey said he believes in helping employees find a healthy balance in their lives. He says this new space's proximity to running and biking trails as well as water helps facilitate that goal better than other spaces could.

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