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Georgia Bureau of Investigation
Abbreviation	GBI
Seal of Georgia
Agency overview
Formed	1927
Employees	810 (as of 2006) [1]
Annual budget	$83,829,976 [2]
Legal personality	Governmental: Government agency
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction*	State of Georgia, USA
Size	59,425 square miles
Population	9,544,750 (2007 est.)[3]
General nature	Law enforcement Civilian police
Operational structure
Headquarters	Atlanta, Georgia
Special Agent and Narcotics Agents	400 (as of 2008) [4]
Civilians	412 (as of 2008) [5]
Agency executive	Vernon M. Keenan, Director
Website
Official website
Footnotes
* Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation or GBI is an independent, state of Georgia agency that provides assistance to the state's criminal justice system in the areas of criminal investigations, forensic laboratory services and computerized criminal justice information.

Organization

The agency is divided into several parts:

• Division of Forensic Sciences (DOFS) - Established in 1952 and furnishes scientific support to the Criminal Justice System of Georgia.

• Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC) - Established in 1973 providing round-the-clock access to needed information.

• Investigative Division - Headed by the Deputy Director for Investigations with 400 employees, working in Regional Offices, Regional Drug Enforcement Offices and other work units that provide specialized services in criminal investigations. Special agents from the Investigative Division respond to requests for assistance from local law enforcement officials to investigate major crimes such as: homicide, rape, child abuse, armed robbery, fraud and other felonies. Drug investigations can be initiated without request.

• Medical Examiner's Office - Provides forensic pathology services to 153 of 159 Georgia counties in deaths which qualify as coroner cases under the Georgia Death Investigation Act. The Chief Medical Examiner for the State of Georgia oversees the GBI's medical examiner (M.E.) program and also establishes policies and guidelines for all Georgia coroners and local medical examiners.

• Crisis Intervention Team - Assists with people with mental illness and other brain disorders.

Fleet and Asset Section manages the GBI’s fleet of more that 500 vehicles and GBI assets totally nearly 5,000 items valued in excess of $100 million.

Staff Services is responsible for:

• The administration of headquarters’ security personnel and maintenance contracts
• Telecommunications management
• Risk management
• Security and access management
• Contract administration.

History

Governor Eurith D. Rivers was instrumental in the creation of the department in March 1937, when a law was passed Act 220 creating the Georgia Department of Public Safety which included the Georgia State Patrol and a plainclothes investigative division called the Division of Identification, Detection, Prevention and Investigation which became the GBI in 1940^[6]. Any crime committed on state property or on state highways came under the jurisdiction of the Department of Public Safety. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was also authorized to assist in criminal investigations when requested to do so by local law enforcement officials or agencies.

In 1972 then Governor of Georgia Jimmy Carter proposed extensive changes in the structure of the executive branch of state government that led to the introduction of the Executive Reorganization Act. As a result of passage of this Act and later amendments, on February 28, 1974, the GBI was made an independent agency separate from the Georgia Department of Public Safety.

References

See also

Georgia portal

Law enforcement/Law enforcement topics portal

• State Bureau of Investigation
• Federal Bureau of Investigation

External links

• Official website