Numb3rs (2005-2010) is a CBS produced TV crime series starring David Krumholtz, Rob Morrow, and Judd Hirsch. FBI agent Don Eppes recruits his younger brother, Charlie, a mathematical genius and college professor, to help solve some of Don’s toughest cases.
Here’s the premise: Season 6 – Episode 2. The team investigates a shootout at a bank. When the statements of the agents involved do not match Charlie’s theory about what happened, suspicion falls on one of Don’s mentors.
This episode of Numb3rs was packed with teachable moments about FBI policies and procedures regarding SOG surveillance teams, shooting reviews, and OPR.
The show begins with the FBI office’s SOG team preparing to confront a crew of bank robbers as they flee from the next bank that the team believes they will hit. This is a horrible plan resulting in 1200 bullets being fired as determined by the genius younger brother (I confess to tuning out whenever he regurgitates his calculations and algorithm analysis.)
Members of the Special Operations Group (SOG) are highly skilled special agents specifically assigned to conduct physical surveillance, in vehicles or on foot, to support ongoing counterterrorism, foreign counterintelligence, and criminal investigations.
Case agents request the assistance of the SOG when they need to surreptitiously gather information about the location and activities of their subjects. SOG members keep a bag packed with several changes of clothing and personal essentials just in case they end up on the road following subjects for days at a time. After determining the whereabouts of subjects, the SOG team is often present during the execution of search and arrests warrant. In this episode of Numb3rs, SOG confronts the bank robbers as they exit the bank. A violent gun battle ensues with innocent bystanders trapped in the middle of the crossfire. As I previously mentioned, it’s a horrible plan. Two FBI agents are shot and killed.
In real life, FBI Headquarters would immediately deploy a shooting review team to determine if the agent involved was operating within the scope of the FBI’s deadly force policy and in accordance with FBI training and procedures.
Agents may fire their weapons only when they have a reasonable belief that the subject of such force poses an imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to the officer or to another person. Additionally, all shooting incident reviews are conducted with the cooperation and assistance of local law enforcement to further determine if any local or state laws were violated.
(Spoil Alert) In this episode of Numb3rs (Season 6 – Episode 2), the genius younger brother conducts the shooting review and somehow determines (I wasn’t listening to his explanation) that two members of SOG assassinated their fellow agents because one was an undercover agent from the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR). As the FBI’s version of internal affairs, OPR has jurisdiction to investigate allegations of employee misconduct. In this fictional case, the murderous SOG couple was under investigation for their misuse of case funds and dereliction of duty during company time. So, they killed the OPR agent and an agent who witnessed the murder. This is a criminal violation way beyond the legal and ethical issues and findings of OPR. Plus, an even more deadly scenario occurs, but I will not spoil the over-the-top conclusion of the episode for you.
Listen to this two-part FBI Retired Case File Review episode to learn how an FBI surveillance of suspected bank robbers ended in the ultimate sacrifice for two agents:
118: Ed Mireles – Fatal FBI Miami Shootout (Part 1)
119: Ed Mireles – Fatal FBI Miami Shootout (Part 2)
Learn more about the FBI’s Deadly Force Policy here:
323: Understanding Deadly Force with Stop The Killing Podcast
