Biggest misconceptions about the FBI
Noesner says there's a stereotype of FBI agents being very emotionally flat, humorless, and all about the facts. "In reality, the most effective agents can be very personable, outgoing, and have a good sense of humor," he says.
"The job is about getting people to relax, getting witnesses to help you, getting criminals to confess, getting guys to work for us instead of us for them. Likability is a very important trait at the FBI."
The movies and TV shows often depict FBI agents as inflexible and bureaucratic, "and maybe there's a grain of truth to that in some instances," he adds. "But it's certainly not an accurate reflection of the performance and personalities of the more successful FBI agents."
Another big misconception: "I think the public believes the FBI is spying on everyone, knows everything, has these abilities to gather any and all information. Popular shows like CSI are nice and entertaining, but they do not reflect reality," Noesner explains.
Also, he believes people think the FBI is "so secretive."
"There's only a very small amount of information that an FBI agent would not be able to share with someone. Unless something or someone is under investigation, we can usually talk about what were working on or have worked on in the past," he says.
And the biggest myth of all is that the FBI comes in and tells the cops to "get the hell out," like they do on TV and in movies.
"Sometimes the FBI can be arrogant, but that is so overplayed in Hollywood. There is typically a cooperative interaction where the FBI works closely with the police, shares information, and that is rarely shown on TV," says Noesner.