FBI to Supervisors: Go to HQ, or Get Demoted

The Los Angeles Times reports today on the FBI's curious effort to force field office agents to accept positions at the agency's Washington headquarters. About one-fifth of the 1,500 top FBI jobs in Washington are vacant, the paper reports--partly because FBI Director Robert Mueller has created in recent years to beef up the agency's counterterrorist capability. And here's how the FBI is working to fill the open slots:

Agents in the field who have five years of supervisory experience are being required to apply for supervisory positions in Washington. People who refuse the transfer are dropped out of the ranks of management and forced to accept a pay cut. About 900 supervisors in field offices are subject to the policy. Most are in their 40s, in the prime of their careers.

Maybe this is why so many high-level agents are accepting offers to join the ever-growing ranks of corporate security officers.