CHICAGO (WLS) — There’s a new special agent in charge of the FBI office in Chicago, and he’s no stranger to the city.
Doug DePodesta sat down to speak exclusively with ABC7 and said he returned home to help keep the city safe.
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DePodesta started his career as a beat cop before transitioning to become an FBI agent, where he specialized in tackling narcotics, gang-related activities, and technology crimes. Eventually, he was entrusted with managing some of the agency’s most significant portfolios.
Doug DePodesta, the Special Agent in Charge at the FBI Chicago Field Office, emphasizes the importance of building trust with the public. He aims to establish a strong connection with the community, ensuring that the agency remains transparent and accessible.
“I can’t even say it is a dream come true, because I’m not even sure if I could’ve dreamt it, right?” DePodesta said.
Returning to Chicago at the age of 54, DePodesta led the management of 650 FBI installations worldwide and held the position of the second-ranking agent in Michigan for six years. His extensive experience has highlighted to him that law enforcement collaborations in the Chicago area are unparalleled, offering him a sense of optimism and confidence in the region’s capabilities.
“Homicides are over 20%, non-fatal shootings are down,” DePodesta said. “I think that’s all in a great part to our partnerships The task forces is in the relationships we’ve built here with federal law enforcement and local law enforcement.”
Former FBI Director Christopher Wray appointed DePodesta to the top job in Chicago 10 days before the Democratic National Convention last summer. Since then, he has established a relationship with Wray’s successor, Kash Patel, and acknowledges budgets are “constrained.”
“It is important to save money,” DePodesta said. “I will tell you our budget here in the Chicago Field Office has not changed.”
Beyond the bank robberies and innumerable fraud investigations, a big part of the spend at the fourth largest FBI operation in the country centers on counterterrorism. DePodesta played key roles on the Mumbai massacre investigations, the prosecution of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, and marshaling the technology to stay ahead of China’s intelligence gathering efforts. That is what keeps him up at night.
“So I will tell you the Chinese government has 50 to one agents working on cyber attacks in our country than we have people defending it,” DePodesta said. “It is alarming that they are doing everything to get into our corporations to steal our intellectual property.”
As for a legacy, DePodesta wants to foster a culture change for an agency that values secrecy, but in the era of AI recognized it needs all the help it can get from positive community relations.
“I love the city,” DePodesta said. “I love it because of the people and neighborhoods that are quilted together that make this community… The more people who know who we are, the more they trust us and the more they work with us to solve crimes.”
DePodesta started as a police officer in Cincinnati, and after nine years joined the FBI in Chicago in 2002. He plans to be more visible in the months and years ahead.
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