FBI and Hoover

The editorial “Working Toward a Better FBI in the 1990s” (Jan. 5) has come to my attention. Your headline is proper inasmuch as striving for greater heights is always appropriate.

However, I protest your classification of a “new” and an “old” FBI as well as your assertion that “the ghost of J. Edgar Hoover hangs over all that the bureau does” and the bureau “operates under the ominous cloud of Hoover’s legacy.” This statement belittles the current leadership.

We in the ranks of the loyal FBI alumni appreciate the efforts of former Director William Webster and current Director William Sessions. The editorial is dead wrong in claiming that they “have worked to erase” Hoover’s legacy. Both men have recognized that Hoover founded the academy and laboratory you praised and that he created the structure of the FBI’s world-renowned law enforcement agency.

Perhaps the prevailing feeling of the active FBI ranks toward the Hoover era is best expressed by Webster’s remarks at our 1987 convention: “During your careers you helped to make the FBI into the finest investigative force in the world. Today we continue to build on the solid foundation which is your legacy.”

LAWRENCE J. HEIM

Rockville, Md.