SAN ANTONIO – FBI director James Comey was in town Tuesday to meet with agents at the San Antonio field office and several local law enforcement leaders.
On the job for less than a year, Comey is on a mission to visit all of the bureau's 56 field offices across the country.
After meeting with local law enforcement leaders from across South Texas, Comey spent about a-half hour taking questions from the media, covering a broad range of topics from terrorism and corruption to cyber crimes and border issues.
Comey also stressed the bureau is focused on building and maintaining strong relationships with local law enforcement agencies.
"It is a pleasure to visit with them and see that no matter what uniform we wear we're really all on the same team," Comey said. "People blather about cooperation around the country, it's the real deal here."
Comey said cooperation is key in the fight against terrorism and preventing another attack on U.S. soil.
He said while the nation has done a good job of taking the fight to al Qaeda in Afghanistan and along the Pakistani border, causing significant damage to the core terrorist group, they've also seen several other Islamic terrorist organizations pop up and cause problems in Syria and Iraq.
Comey said those two countries are now a training ground and safe haven for jihadists, including thousands of terrorists who've joined the fight from North America and Western Europe.
Comey worries those fighters will be a major threat when they return home, but he also worries about so-called "lone wolf terrorists" who are inspired and radicalized by propaganda on the Internet. He said that's why it's important to have good relationships with local law enforcement.
"The people who are going to see a Syria traveler going or coming or some home grown violent extremists in that short window between emergence and killing is highly likely to be a sheriff's deputy or a police officer on patrol, the partnerships represented on this podium are critical to protecting this country," Comey said.
So far Comey has visited 38 FBI field offices in his 10 months as director. He said each one has it's own unique challenges.
Comey also said the bureau is hiring new agents to fill some gaps left by budget cuts in recent years, he hopes to have the agency staffed with 37,000 people in the years ahead.
Comey was appointed by President Barack Obama last year and took office in October. He will serve as FBI director for 10 years.