Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News

PHOENIX, AZ—The FBI Phoenix Field Office, in commemoration of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week (NCVRW), April 18–24, 2021, joins its federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement partners in taking this opportunity to raise awareness about crime victims’ issues and rights. NCVRW is celebrated each year in communities across the nation to honor, acknowledge, and support crime victims.

The FBI’s mission is to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution of the United States. When a scammer victimizes the elderly, a predator targets a child online, or terror strikes a community, the FBI works to bring the perpetrators to justice. But our job doesn’t stop there. One of the most important additional roles we play is assisting victims of federal crime through our victim services division. The FBI Phoenix Field Office has Victim Specialists in Phoenix and in each of our seven Resident Agencies across the state to include: Tucson, Sierra Vista, Yuma, Flagstaff, Pinetop-Lakeside, Lake Havasu, and Gallup.

The victim services mission is to inform, support, and assist victims in navigating the aftermath of crime and the criminal justice process with dignity and resilience. That includes, but is not limited to, working with elderly couples who lost their savings to a scam, providing emotional support to a child victim, and providing all assistance a family may need after the loss of a loved one.

“Our compassion for victims of crime is at the core of who we are and why we do what we do,” said Sean Kaul, special agent in charge of the FBI Phoenix Field Office. “This week, we remember and honor the millions of Americans who have been impacted by a devastating crime. The FBI and our victim specialists stand with them and recognize their strength and courage.”

For additional information about the FBI victim specialist program, visit: https://www.fbi.gov/resources/victim-services. For additional information on how the FBI helps victims of crime, visit: https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/vsd-ensures-crime-victims-get-support-041921.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News

A man wearing a light-colored cowboy hat and a shirt with broad horizontal stripes robbed a Los Lunas bank on Monday, April 19, 2021.

The suspect also wore a plaid jacket, dark pants, and a mask.

He is described as a Hispanic male, approximately 5’5” tall, weighing about 180 pounds, and has salt and pepper hair.

The robbery occurred at U.S. Bank, 2421 Main Street SE, at approximately 1 p.m.

The suspect entered the bank and showed the teller a note demanding money.

The teller handed over an undisclosed amount of money to the suspect, who left the bank.

The FBI and Los Lunas Police Department are investigating whether this suspect could be responsible for a robbery at the same bank that occurred on April 7, 2021.

Anyone with information about these robberies is asked to contact the FBI at (505) 889-1300, or Albuquerque Metro Crime Stoppers, anonymously, at (505) 843-STOP.

Tips can also be submitted online at tips.fbi.gov.

Information about other bank robbers wanted by the FBI can be found at bankrobbers.fbi.gov.

Bank robbery carries a possible prison term of up to 20 years. The use of a gun, other dangerous weapon, toy gun, or hoax bomb device during the commission of a bank robbery can be punishable by a prison term of up to 25 years.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News

To further the victim service capabilities of domestic and international partner agencies, VSD provides training and support to law enforcement and other professionals to enhance their victim assistance programs. These trainings include how to build victim services programs, enhance child/adolescent forensic interviewing skills, deliver death notifications without further traumatizing family members, and conduct victim and family briefings following mass casualty events.

Many of the services and resources VSD provides are used in tandem—especially when the need arises to surge support for a particular case or area. This includes the FBI’s response to last summer’s Supreme Court ruling that a large segment of the eastern portion of the state of Oklahoma would return to federal/tribal reservation land, which added many additional cases under the FBI’s jurisdiction. For VSD, this led to approximately a 1,130% increase in victims requiring FBI assistance in that area. The FBI has responded by surging resources, to include victim services assets, to Oklahoma to support the local communities. VSD has been providing services, resources, and forensic interviews to victims as well as training law enforcement personnel on providing culturally sensitive death notifications and assisting in setting up multi-disciplinary teams to coordinate across local agencies during investigations.

As the country marks National Crime Victims’ Rights Week this week, take a moment to learn more about the assistance and services the FBI provides victims of crime and their families.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News

Director Christopher Wray has formally appointed Scott McMillion as the FBI’s first chief diversity officer. In this role, Mr. McMillion will direct the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, which the FBI established in 2012.

“As our chief diversity officer, Scott is the right person to ensure that the FBI fosters a culture of diversity and inclusion, and that our workforce reflects all the communities we serve,” Director Wray said. “I’m grateful he has agreed to bring his talent, experience, and dedication to our Office of Diversity and Inclusion, where he will build upon the important work that others started.”

Mr. McMillion has served for several years as the chair of the Black Affairs Diversity Committee, which helps the Office of Diversity and Inclusion to advance objectives that affect African American employees and enhance minority recruitment, employment, and retention at FBI.

Mr. McMillion began his FBI career as a special agent in 1998 in the Omaha Field Office in Nebraska. He worked on several criminal investigative squads and was the senior team leader of the Evidence Response Team. In 2006, Mr. McMillion transferred to the Gallup Resident Agency of the Phoenix Field Office, where he investigated crimes in Indian Country.

He was promoted to supervisory special agent in 2008 and was assigned to the Cyber Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington. He was promoted to unit chief in 2010 and oversaw the Innocent Images National Initiative and Digital Analysis Research Center.

In 2013, Mr. McMillion transferred to the Criminal Investigative Division as a unit chief in the Strategic Initiatives Unit, Violent Crimes Against Children Section. He later moved to the Jacksonville Field Office in Florida, overseeing the Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach, and Panama City Resident Agencies. Mr. McMillion transferred to the Inspection Division at Headquarters in 2018. He was promoted to assistant special agent in charge of the Columbia Field Office in South Carolina, in charge of the National Security Branch, in 2019.

Prior to joining the FBI, Mr. McMillion was a special agent for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Criminology from Florida State University and a Master of Forensic Science from Nebraska Wesleyan University.