New FBI Director Touts Importance of Partnerships With Local Police at IACP

The Federal Buerau of Investigatioin's newly installed director spoke at the annual conference of the International Association of Chiefs of Police in Philadelphia Sunday about his goals for the agency and the importance of working hand-in-hand with local law enforcement agencies.

FBI Director Christopher Wray told attendees Sunday that two months into his tenure, his immediate goal is to bring a sense of calm and stability to the bureau, according to CNN.

"In a society sometimes fixated to a fault on results, I'm somebody who's a big believer in the importance of integrity of process, and that's part of how I am hoping to sort of steady the ship," he said.

So far, Wray has visited 11 FBI field offices across the country in his first 11 weeks as he beings to determine his long-term priorities. He touched on the importance of partnerships with local police and gave an overview of the threats on the FBI's radar, from homegrown extremism to the opioid crisis.

"This may be the most difficult stretch in your career," he told attendees. "The threats that we face keep accumulating. They're complex, they're varied."

He also spoke about roadblocks in dealing with cellphone encryption technology, saying that in first 11 months of the fiscal year, the FBI has been unable to access content from 6,900 mobile devices despite having the proper legal authority to do so.

"It's going to be a lot worse than that in just a couple of years if we don't come up with some responsible solution," he lamented. "I'm open to all ideas."

Wray spoke during his speech about the need for the FBI to stay focused on the job at hand in order to avoid similar controversies that hampered the efforts of his predecessor, James Comey.

"Staying laser-focused on the mission and on the work itself -- day in, day out, left foot, right foot, grinding away, following the rules, following the law, following the guidelines, trying to make sure that we're doing the right thing but in the right way, treating everybody with respect," he said. "That is the approach that I intend to pursue: steady, rock solid, dependable."