Proactive is one of those buzzwords that people love to toss around as proof that they’re ahead of the curve.  But then it comes to law enforcement, the sweet sound of “proactive” hides its real meaning: An investigation commenced without any reason to suspect wrongdoing.  Why wait?  We don’t need no stinkin’ reason.

The  New York Times reports that the F.B.I. has rewritten its agents’ guide, Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide, so that agents can commence investigations, which they delightfully call “assessments,” without any basis whatsoever to believe that the target has engaged in a crime. 

And if they can investigate, they naturally needs the weapons to do so.  No need to bother supervisors either. Not even the need to document what you’ve done, since that would create a record of who’s being investigated, and that could always get into the wrong hands. Go get ’em, tiger.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is giving significant new powers to its roughly 14,000 agents, allowing them more leeway to search databases, go through household trash or use surveillance teams to scrutinize the lives of people who have attracted their attention.

Some of the most notable changes apply to the lowest category of investigations, called an “assessment.” The category, created in December 2008, allows agents to look into people and organizations “proactively” and without firm evidence for suspecting criminal or terrorist activity.

Under current rules, agents must open such an inquiry before they can search for information about a person in a commercial or law enforcement database. Under the new rules, agents will be allowed to search such databases without making a record about their decision.

There has long been an argument that law enforcement should get ahead of the curve, better to head ’em off at the pass than wait for the body to turn cold.  But most people would still assume that it takes more than innocently getting on some Fibber’s radar to become the target of a federal investigation.  You know, some itsy, bitsy actual reason to suspect that someone might be doing something, you know, wrong?

Under current rules, agents must open such an inquiry before they can search for information about a person in a commercial or law enforcement database. Under the new rules, agents will be allowed to search such databases without making a record about their decision.

Mr. German said the change would make it harder to detect and deter inappropriate use of databases for personal purposes. But Ms. Caproni said it was too cumbersome to require agents to open formal inquiries before running quick checks. She also said agents could not put information uncovered from such searches into F.B.I. files unless they later opened an assessment.

Quick checks sounds so innocuous.  Of course, quick checks can turn into longer checks, if something piques an agent’s interest.  Or, he can just be using the F.B.I. computers to make sure the parents of the boy his daughter is dating is, well, his kind of people.  A father can never be too careful.

The new rules will also relax a restriction on administering lie-detector tests and searching people’s trash. . . But soon agents will be allowed to use those techniques for one kind of assessment, too: when they are evaluating a target as a potential informant.

Agents have asked for that power in part because they want the ability to use information found in a subject’s trash to put pressure on that person to assist the government in the investigation of others. But Ms. Caproni said information gathered that way could also be useful for other reasons, like determining whether the subject might pose a threat to agents.

Two ironies at once! How cool is that.  First, one sentence to cover both polygraphs and picking through trash, as garbage investigations belong together.  But more importantly, the motivation behind authorizing agents to pick through garbage at will is to nail down “potential informants.”  In other words, rummage through the trash to find something embarrassing, humiliating, so that you can threaten to reveal it to persuade people to become rats.  Notice how well rats fits in with the other garbage analogies. As if it was made to fit together, just like the agent would do such a thing.

There are additional changes as well to facilitate internal spying, infiltrating groups without any files being opened, supervisors’ approval obtained, anyone knowing that an agent, of his own volition, has decided to do so.  The stuff of thrilling novels.

There is one new restriction, however, which will limit an agents authority to stick his nose under any tent he so desires.

At least one change would tighten, rather than relax, the rules. Currently, a special agent in charge of a field office can delegate the authority to approve sending an informant to a religious service. The new manual will require such officials to handle those decisions personally.

Thank the Lord the F.B.I. respects the sanctity of religious services, especially since they vote in large blocks.

Harvey Silverglate posits that we all commit three felonies a day, which I’ve since upgraded to three felonies by coffee break,  If you happen to piss off, or simply get noticed by, a federal agent, what are the chances that he might find something that he finds suspicious just fooling around in his computer and rummaging through your trash?

But isn’t it worth it to feel secure knowing the F.B.I. is being proactive?  And what do you have to fear?