Rank question

[dcarson]

In FY 2003, the FBI's 56 field offices ranged in size from as large as 1,972 funded positions (New York City) to as small as 71 funded positions (Anchorage).

Don't see anything that breaks down agents vs office types.

Each field office is overseen by a special agent in charge, except our offices in Los Angeles, New York City, and Washington, D.C., which are headed by an assistant director in charge due to their large size. Within these field offices are a total of about 380 resident agencies located in smaller cities and towns. Resident agencies are managed by supervisory special agents.

And finding the Anchorage office website they have two Assistants.

Anchorage Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey E. Peterson

Assistant Special Agents in Charge

Adam C. Pierce
Darrin T. Turpin

[Black Leviathan]

My rule of thumb for ranks is as follows.

Rank 0 - Subordinate. You have no authority, your only role is to perform work assigned to you like a clerk or receptionist, trainee or grunt.
Rank 1 - Independent. Your have no real authority but your role allows you to make decisions and act without direct supervision. Likely you have some specialized training or experienced and on occasion are assigned to lead a group for special projects. Examples would be a State Police patrol officer or FBI Special Agent, Police Desk Sgt.
Rank 2 - Group Leader. You routinely manage a small group of a dozen or less and attend to them administratively. You could be a small-town sheriff or Motor Pool Sgt.
Rank 3 - Department Leader. Your oversee a large group of 50 or less where your responsibilities are typically delegated to group leaders. or you manage an asset that require resources in excess of routine expenditures. This could be a Lieutenant in charge or the beat police for a precinct or Legal counsel for a military base.
Rank 4 - Department head. You manage an office or a division of a large campus, usually the highest rank people outside of the rank structure can deal with. In addition to directing the facility you are also generally it's press contact and representative in government. Examples would be The Captain of a police precinct or the Director of Operations for the CDC's virology lab, or the Captain of a Battleship.
Rank 5 - Regional Director. You control operations and budget for a region or division, taking control of a single campus that governs operations in the area or heading the regional office. You are in charge of the compliance of your subordinate offices and you personally oversee directives from the national director. In organizations that have no national level such as the city police this is the highest rank. Examples include FBI Assistant Director, or The Police commissioner of a major city, or a US Army General.
Rank-6 National Director. You are in charge of the national operation of your organization or military. In most cases this is the highest rank of the organization. This job is purely delegation and interaction with other administrative heads within government.
Rank - 7 Organizational Director. If your organization or military has direct interaction with National government it will have rank 7 Director that manages governmental directions within the organization and overseas one or more internal Rank 6 Directors who manage national efforts of different branches within the organization. Examples would be The Director of the CIA or any of the Joint Chiefs of the armed services, or the Postmaster General of USPS.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by dcarson

In FY 2003, the FBI's 56 field offices ranged in size from as large as 1,972 funded positions (New York City) to as small as 71 funded positions (Anchorage).

Don't see anything that breaks down agents vs office types.

for some reason the fiscal year 2003 numbers for the FBI are easier to get than most. Exibit 2-4 in this audit report gives the number of field agents vs. support staff for each field office, as well as the positions at each field office.

• The average number of agents at a field office is 187, but the median is 127
• The average number of support staff at a field office is 142, but the median is 88
• New York and Anchorage are outliers, but Mobile (second smallest) and Chicago (largest without assistant director) are not.
• 10% of agents are at HQ, while 50% of support staff are HQ
• The jurisdiction for Field offices breaks down along mostly state lines. Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, the Dakotas, Iowa, West Virgina, Rhode Island, Deleware, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine lack offices, being covered by an office in different state. California, Texas, Florida, Illinois and Alabama??! have multiple offices. Also, the mid-Atlantic seaboard from New York to Virginia is more complicated

Originally Posted by Black Leviathan

My rule of thumb for ranks is as follows.

Its a great rule of thumb, but We're looking at the FBI, which for some reason seems to skip from 56 field offices to the head quarters organization, with little to nothing in between. Which leads me to suspect that Special Agents in Charge have little direct oversight and are non-trivial to remove.