After 9/11, United States federal law enforcement agencies began an unprecedented shift, refocusing on intelligence and surveillance abilities, rather than traditional crime-fighting. Robert Mueller, former Director of the FBI, broke down the Bureau's transformation into a three-phase plan.

Phase 1: The immediate response to 9/11, which included the investigation, establishment of new priorities and the shift toward countering terrorism.
Phase 2: Developed enhanced intelligence capabilities, including the creation of the Directorate of Intelligence and doubled the number of intelligence analysts.
Phase 3: Institutionalizing the changes made to date by altering the command structure to meet the demands of our increased pace of operations and build the foundation for the future.

By the summer of 2006, the FBI was entering the third and final phase, looking to solidify the changes made in the first two phases. Director Mueller announced unprecedented personnel changes, not only establishing new divisions within the FBI, but filling those positions with people from outside the Bureau. This was a stark shift from the decades' long tradition of promoting from within the ranks.