In FBI Director Kash Patel’s first full month in charge, the bureau has received a record number of applications for new agents. The number of people looking for jobs in law enforcement has more than doubled the monthly average since 2016.
Fox News Digital reported that 5,577 new applications for FBI agents were sent in March. The last time that number was even close to that in a month was April 2016, when 5,283 applications came in.
According to FBI data looked at by Fox News Digital, the average number of applications per month in 2023 was 2,797, and the average number of applications per month in 2024 was 3,383.
“Director Patel and Deputy Director (Dan) Bongino have put a major emphasis on restoring confidence in federal law enforcement and boosting new agent recruiting. These record early returns certainly suggest the new FBI is heading in the right direction,” FBI spokesman Ben Williamson told Fox News Wednesday.
Records from the FBI show that since January, they have received more than 10,000 applications for new agents.
The FBI got 4,143 applications to join in January, the first month of the Trump administration and the month of Patel’s nomination and confirmation hearing. This was the first month since August 2020 that the FBI got that many applications for a new agent.
“The record number of FBI job applications in March shows that people are inspired by Kash Patel’s commitment to restoring integrity and effectiveness at the bureau,” Patel advisor Erica Knight told Fox News Digital Wednesday. “Americans are putting their trust in his leadership to rebuild the FBI and keep our communities safe.”
“Kash is dedicated to creating a stronger, more trusted FBI that serves the American people the way it was always meant to,” Knight said.
During his Senate confirmation hearing in late January, Patel illustrated the “erosion of trust” at the bureau, pointing to polling revealing that “only 40% of Americans hold a favorable view of the FBI.”
“This must change,” Patel testified. “Public cooperation is vital for the bureau to solve crimes, and its declining reputation is already affecting recruitment efforts.”
Patel and Bongino have put a lot of effort into hiring new agents and boosting morale among police officers by “letting good cops be cops.” This is why there are a record number of applications.
In March, Patel put out an FBI recruitment video that showed the director working with agents in the field and displaying footage from the hostage rescue team facility that asked people to join the team.
The video ends with a graphic showing the FBI seal and the words, “A renewed mission. A stronger future.”
“Apply today at FBIJobs.gov,” the video says.
Patel and Bongino also have privately emphasized to their staff the importance of boosting local partner engagement.
The FBI announced last week that it had arrested the top leader of MS-13 on the East Coast of the United States.
The suspect, who is 24 years old, was caught in Woodbridge, Virginia, which is just south of Washington, D.C. The suspect’s name has not been made public yet, but the police say he is one of the three most important MS-13 gang leaders in the United States.
Attorney General Pam Bondi and Director Patel watched the arrest from a tactical operations center close by. There was also Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and a top official from the DOJ named Emil Bove.
“Early this morning, one of the top leaders of MS-13 was apprehended. He was the leader for the East Coast, one of the top three in the entire country, right here in Virginia … He is an illegal alien from El Salvador — and he will not be living in our country much longer,” Bondi declared.
“They executed a clean, safe operation, and the bad guys in custody. And thanks to the FBI, we got one of the worst of the worst of the MS-13 off the streets this morning. Virginia and the country is a lot safer today,” Bondi said.
“From the second Donald Trump took office, he said he is going to make America safe. He shut down our borders and now it’s our job to get these people out of our country… We will not have another Laken Riley,” Bondi added.
“Arrests have increased 468% from the same period last year. We didn’t need new laws, as President Trump always says — we needed a new president,” she continued. “America is safer today because one of the top domestic terrorists in MS-13, he is off the streets. This has been an ongoing directive of President Trump. His directive to me when I became Attorney General of the United States was very simple: Keep America safe.”
Patel said, “This task force is going to go everywhere as needed, across the United States to bring the form of justice and measured security and safety that our American citizens deserve… If you are going to continue to commit acts of violent crime, you will meet the same fate that this individual did this morning.”
“This is what happens when you let good cops be cops and we’re going to continue to let good cops be cops across this country… We are returning our communities to safety,” Patel said.
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