FBI Data Reveal Historic Uptick In Arrests Amid "Full-Scale Reset' Of Agency
Authored by Travis Gillmore via The Epoch Times,
The first year of President Donald Trump’s second term saw historic reductions in violent crimes, while federal arrests soared by 100 percent, according to the FBI.
The 2025 milestones were achieved as a result of a “full-scale reset of the FBI—operationally, culturally, and fiscally,” FBI Director Kash Patel told The Epoch Times.
Murder rates fell by 20 percent nationwide, the largest decline on record, according to statistics released by the FBI on Jan. 22.
Four of the top 10 most wanted fugitives were captured, matching the number detained over the prior four years.
Approximately 1,800 gangs and other criminal organizations were disrupted, marking a 210 percent increase from the prior year, and more than 2,000 kilograms, or around 4,400 pounds of fentanyl—enough of the deadly opioid to kill more than one-third of the U.S. population—were seized.
“The result was the most productive year in modern FBI history, measured by arrests, disruptions, victim recoveries, and taxpayer savings,” Patel said. “That’s what reform looks like, and there’s more to come.”
The improvements came as he oversaw a complete overhaul of the FBI—including the closure of the Hoover Building—and the relocation of its headquarters, expected to save taxpayers approximately $5 billion.
The FBI headquarters in Washington on July 16, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times
An additional $1.2 billion in savings resulted from a comprehensive audit conducted last year.
“We cut bureaucracy, pushed agents back into the field, delivered accountability, and rebuilt trust with our law enforcement partners,” Patel said.
Restructuring the sprawling agency included the dismissal of some agents perceived to have political bias, balanced by the hiring of 1,422 individuals, including nearly 500 special agents.
Patel refocused the FBI to prioritize crime-fighting and threat-detection operations.
Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel announce the arrest of Brian Cole during a press conference in Washington on Dec. 4, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times
Joint investigations resulted in the recovery of more than 6,000 missing children across the country and the arrest of about 1,700 child predators.
Nearly 4 million accounts operated by pedophiles online were terminated.
Agents investigated 900 percent more children potentially victimized by nihilistic violent extremism—a new class of terrorism that involves the exploitation and harm of children.
The notorious 764 Network—a loosely organized, nihilistic, violent extremist group known to harm animals and children—was targeted, resulting in 20 percent more arrests than in 2024, with the founder sentenced to more than 80 years in prison.
“This should be headline news every day, because the protection of our children is one of our biggest priorities here,” Patel said during an interview with Jan Jekielek, host of Epoch TV’s “American Thought Leaders.“
“We made a huge push this year to protect our children against these online predators, and this is the worst of the worst.”
Counterespionage efforts netted 41 individuals from China, 18 Russians, 10 Iranians, and 16 other people from around the world, totaling 36 percent more spies caught than the year before.
“We are actually disrupting them. We’re kicking them out of our networks,” he said. “We’re bringing them to trial, and we’re putting them in prison. That is a very powerful public display of force.”
FBI Director Kash Patel speaks during a news conference at the Department of Justice in Washington on Nov. 19, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times
Agents are also using advanced biometric identification methods—including fingerprints and scans of irises and faces to secure records and prevent theft of sensitive materials.
Investigations stopped 640 individuals from committing terrorist attacks, as the counterterrorism division arrested more than 700 suspects, secured 242 convictions, and seized 245 firearms.
International operations boosted global extraditions and transfers of custody to foreign nations by 40 percent, while nearly doubling the number of subpoenas, indictments, convictions, and sentences levied the year before.
President Donald Trump highlighted the federal crime-fighting initiatives and results on the one-year anniversary of his second inauguration, saying the deployment of resources helped “restore law and order.”
Special agents participated in the Memphis Safe Task Force and were involved in a number of operations, including “Summer Heat” and “Coast to Coast,” which resulted in 56,000 arrests and the seizure of more than 4,000 firearms.
Trump’s designation of Antifa as a terrorist organization allowed extensive investigations that unveiled financial connections, according to Patel, who said about two dozen individuals were arrested for materially supporting terrorism.
“We’re treating them as [the] terrorist organization that they are and mapping out the money,” he said, noting that more indictments are expected this year.
“With our partners in Treasury, we are following the money, mapping out the entire network, and treating them as a terrorist organization under the authorities the president has given us.”
An ANTIFA tag in Los Angeles on Oct. 20, 2021. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times
Restoring integrity to the FBI—following years of what the director described as politically motivated prosecutions and botched investigations—is a key element of Patel’s leadership approach.
He engaged with Congress 50 times, a 25 percent increase from Christopher Wray’s record in 2024, and provided lawmakers with more than 400,000 pages of documents, representing 560 percent more pages than his predecessor produced.
More transparency is on the way, according to Patel, after agents discovered burn bags filled with documents related to Russian collusion allegations involving Trump.
“You’re going to see everything we found in that room, in one way or another, be it through investigation, public trial, or disclosure of the Congress,” Patel said.