The mission of the VCMO program is to provide an immediate response to prevent personal injury, and to conduct investigations which result in the successful prosecution of individuals, gangs, and other criminal organizations committing violent crimes to include: bank robbery, kidnaping, extortion, car jackings, child pornography via the Internet, crimes on Indian Reservations, and crimes aboard aircraft.

The Jackson Division of the FBI supervises several Safe Street Task Forces, comprised of federal, state, and local law enforcement officers that investigate crimes which pose the most serious threat to communities. These Task Forces operate on a case specific basis and are supported by Special Agents of the FBI, various police departments, county sheriff's deputies, and Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol investigators.

The Jackson Division identifies and investigates various criminal enterprises and street gangs that engage in organized and widespread drug trafficking, which goes hand-in-hand with violent crimes and gang related activities. Additionally, these investigations may involve money laundering and public corruption offenses associated with drug trafficking. Traditional and non-traditional organized crime activities, which may include drug trafficking and violent offenses, are also investigated.

In conducting all our criminal investigations the most sophisticated investigative techniques available, along with operational informants and cooperating witnesses, are used to build a solid case. These efforts culminate in strong prosecutable cases against individuals and organizations who engage in some of the most insidious offenses which threaten our communities.

The Jackson Division monitors potential infiltration of organized crime into the Mississippi Gaming/Casino industry located on the banks of the Mississippi River and along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Investigations involve illegal money laundering, gambling cheats, and other suspicious activity at the casinos. Mississippi is second only to Las Vegas, Nevada, in total square footage of casino space in the United States.

The Jackson Division investigates allegations of corruption and fraud in the following categories within the White Collar Crime Program:

Public Corruption--Elected or appointed officials acting for or on behalf of their office, who corruptly seek or agree to receive anything of value in return for being influenced in the performance of their official duties.

Health Care Fraud--Fraud against private and public health insurance programs by health care providers. Health care providers include hospitals, nursing homes, alternative care providers, physicians, other medical professionals, ambulance transport, laboratories and durable medical equipment providers. Matters involving billing for services not rendered or billing for services that were not authorized or medically necessary and also matters involving the offer or acceptance of a kickback to refer patients, prescribe certain drugs, order certain lab tests, or advise a particular course of treatment.

Environmental Crime--Any discharge of a toxic substance into the air, water, or soil which poses a significant threat of harm to people, property, or the environment, which includes air pollution, water pollution, and illegal dumping.

Government Fraud--Fraud in connection with federal government contracting and fraud in connection with federal and/or federally-funded entitlement programs, to include public housing, agricultural programs, defense procurement fraud, educational programs, and corporate frauds.

Economic Crimes--Matters involving telemarketing fraud, bankruptcy fraud, insurance fraud, and fraud by wire, including computer facilitated crimes in these areas.

Financial Institution Fraud--Fraud and embezzlement occurring within or against a federally insured or regulated institution, i.e., banks, savings and loans, and credit unions.

Money Laundering--Crimes that involve illicit activities involving the use of U.S. banks or other financial institutions to facilitate financial transactions undertaken in furtherance of a scheme to defraud or conceal the source(s) of ill-gotten gains.

The Jackson Division investigates allegations of Civil Rights violations. These allegations may be related to police brutality, discrimination against persons based on their race, ethnicity, religion, or age.

In accordance with U.S. Counterterrorism policy, the FBI considers terrorists to be criminals. The FBI investigates terrorists in the United States. For more detailed information: Counterterrorism

The Jackson Division develops and maintains liaison with Defense Contractors, military establishments, research institutions, and corporate entities with significant, sensitive, or proprietary information which are identified as potential targets of foreign intelligence source activities.

The Jackson Division has established a National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC) Team to provide coordinated responses related to computer crimes. This includes providing security briefings to community organizations that have been identified as potential targets for computer crimes.

The NIPC's mission is to serve as the U.S. government's focal point for threat assessment, warning, investigation, and response for threats or attacks against our critical infrastructures. These infrastructures, which include telecommunications, energy, banking and finance, water systems, government operations, and emergency services, are the foundation upon which our industrialized society is based. We do not simply investigate and respond to events after they occur, but we try to learn about them and prevent them beforehand. This is a large and very difficult task. It requires the collection and analysis of information gathered from all available sources (including law enforcement investigations, intelligence sources, data provided by industry, and open sources) and the dissemination of our analyses and warnings of possible incidents to potential victims, whether in the government or private sector. To accomplish this mission, the NIPC relies on the assistance of, and information gathered by, the FBI's 56 field offices; other federal agencies; State and local law enforcement agencies; and perhaps most importantly, the private sector, which serves initially as developers, and then later as owners and operators of our critical infrastructures.

We are not the Nation's super systems administrator or security officer, responsible for securing everyone's infrastructures or systems against intruders or advising on the latest security software or patches to fix vulnerabilities. That role clearly must be filled by systems administrators in each company, by chief information officers in government agencies, and by industry groups and other entities (such as computer emergency response teams) with expertise in reducing vulnerabilities and restoring service. Rather, our role is to help prevent intrusions and illegal acts by gathering information about threats from sources that are uniquely available to the government (such as from law enforcement and intelligence sources), combining it with information voluntarily provided by the private sector or obtained from open sources, conducting analysis, and disseminating our analyses and warnings to all relevant consumers. And, if an incident does occur, our role is to serve as the federal government's focal point for crisis response and investigation.

The Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC) is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C). IFCC's mission is to address fraud committed over the Internet. For victims of Internet fraud, IFCC provides a convenient and easy-to-use reporting mechanism that alerts authorities of a suspected criminal or civil violation. For More Information, visit IFCC's website at www.ifccfbi.gov.