F.B.I. Agents Took Mementos From Rubble of Twin Towers
By ERIC LICHTBLAU
NY Times
Published: February 26, 2004

WASHINGTON, Feb. 25 - Thirteen agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation took mementos, debris or valuables from the Staten Island landfill that held the rubble of the World Trade Center, and the F.B.I. now plans to formally ban the removal of crime-scene items as a result, officials said on Wednesday.

The department first began investigating charges of possible theft last year after receiving a complaint that the Tiffany globe wound up on the desk of an F.B.I. secretary in Minneapolis. But the inspector general's investigation found that the removal of World Trade Center evidence was more widespread than previously realized and that the problem was a longstanding one at the F.B.I. at other crime scenes as well.

None of the other agents, (aside from Mr. Marx. ed), implicated in the inspector general's investigation are facing disciplinary proceedings because there was no formal F.B.I. policy in place that prevented the removal of such items, according to a bureau official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "We didn't have a written policy relative to this type of activity, and that's one of the problems here," the F.B.I. official said. "Obviously we don't encourage this type of thing, and while it was inappropriate, there wasn't a policy we could say they violated." "Our investigation found that memento taking at recovery sites has been a longstanding practice with F.B.I. agents," the inspector general's report found.