FBI Core Values

The strategic plan for accomplishing the FBI's mission must begin by identifying the core values which need to be preserved and defended by the FBI in performing its statutory missions. Those values are: rigorous obedience to the Constitution of the United States; respect for the dignity of all those we protect; compassion; fairness; and uncompromising personal and institutional integrity. These values do not exhaust the many goals which we wish to achieve, but they capsulize them as well as can be done in a few words. Our values must be fully understood, practiced, shared, vigorously defended and preserved.

Observance of these core values is our guarantee of excellence and propriety in performing the FBI's national security and criminal investigative functions. Rigorous obedience to constitutional principles ensures that individually and institutionally we always remember that constitutional guarantees are more important than the outcome of any single interview, search for evidence, or investigation. Respect for the dignity of all whom we protect reminds us to wield law enforcement powers with restraint and to recognize the natural human tendency to be corrupted by power and to become callous in its exercise. Fairness and compassion ensure that we treat everyone wiht the highest regard for constitutional, civil and human rights. Personal and institutional integrity reinforce each other and are owed to the Nation in exchange for the sacred trust and great authority conferred upon us.

We who enforce the law must not merely obey it. We have an obligation to set a moral example which those whom we protect can follow. Because the FBI's success in accomplishing its mission is directly related to the support and cooperation of those whom we protect, these core values are the fiber which holds together the vitality of our institution.

Louis Freeh