Eric S. Birnbaum, who served as chief inspector of the Inspection Division at headquarters, has been named special agent in charge of the Administrative Division in the Los Angeles office of the FBI.
Birnbaum joined the FBI 1988 and was first posted in the Washington Field Office, where he focused on white collar and violent crime.
In 1992, he was promoted to firearms examiner in the FBI Laboratory and managed an initiative that used a computer imaging technology to link evidence from serial shooting crimes, according to an FBI press release.
In 1997, he was assigned assistant inspector in the Inspection Division and audited FBI operations nationwide.
Two years later, it was off to the San Diego Division to supervise a White Collar Crime Squad that focused on health care fraud, governmental fraud and environmental crime matters.
In 2003, he headed north to the San Francisco Division where he served as assistant special agent in charge for the intelligence, criminal and SWAT programs.
In 2007, he was promoted to deputy assistant director of the FBI Laboratory.
Two years later, Birnbaum returned to the Inspection Division as one of eight inspectors who lead teams that worked on treamlining the FBI’s operations. He was named chief inspector in 2012.
Birnbaum has a doctorate in physical chemistry from Stanford University.
