Oregon Public Broadcasting

This summer, a new leader came to the FBI's Portland Division. Art Balizan is not from the Northwest, but as April Baer reports, he comes with experience uniquely suited to the region's needs.

When Art Balizan became Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI's Portland Division, he says he liked what he saw.

Art Balizan  "This is my 7th federal district I've worked in. I have seen one of the highest levels of law enforcement cooperation I've seen anywhere."

Balizan arrives in Oregon at a time when policework is - by necessity - more collaborative.

Attorney General John Kroger says Oregon needs the Bureau's staff and formidable forensic expertise for incidents like last winter's bank bombing in Woodburn. Kroger predicts Balizan will also be asked to help with corporate crime crackdowns.

John Kroger "The FBI has unparalleled resources to go after white collar criminals, to do the kind of forensic accounting investigations that are needed in those very complex cases. That is an area where the local district attorneys in the state have lost some of their capability due to budget cuts over the years."

And it's an area Art Balizan knows well, having supervised white collar crimefighting in Silicon Valley for some key post-Enron investigations of corporate fraud.

But the top of the FBI's priority list is investigating threats to national security. These cases pose thorny challenges for the Portland Division.

The FBI's mis-identification of a local attorney Brandon Mayfield in the 2004 Madrid train bombings, sowed suspicion that lingers in some corners to this day. The FBI issued a rare apology to Mayfield for the mistake.  Balizan does not comment on the incident directly.

Art Balizan "Certain cases you mention - very unfortunate - they're in the past, we've learned from them. My position is let's move on. Let's not do that again."

What does interest him, Balizan says, is making the Portland Division a better known commodity.

Art Balizan "The challenges for me now are getting out into the community, and educating the community about what the FBI is." "We're your neighbors. Our kids play with your kids, we're in the community,  we're no different than anyone, we just have a different job."

And, Balizan says, the FBI can't do that job without the public's help from many parts of the community.

Efforts to fight Mexican-based drug traffickers have made outreach with Latinos a necessity. Having grown up in New Mexico speaking Spanish, and having lived some years in Bogota training Colombian police, Balizan comes across as attuned to a changing world.

Art Balizan "I don't see as much Spanish spoken here yet. I think Spanish will become a language for everyone, not just for Latinos but for everyone, because of the way the world is turning, and because of where the country is setting on the planet, I think Spanish will become a necessary second language for us."

Eric Mellgren is a former Medford police chief who teaches criminal justice at Southern Oregon University. He says Balizan looks like a good fit, -- especially with his background as a former Hayward California police officer.

Eric Mellgren "It used to be one had to be an accountant or a lawyer to get into the bureau. Now they've started to look for aggressively - experienced police officers. I think they bring with them some pretty important credentialing that can't be recorded on paper. They know what it's like to be out at four in the morning, or how to deal with an irate group of people."

Balizan is a natural fit for Oregon in at least one other way.  He's an avid cyclist who's already getting to know the state's roadways.