For more than 30 years, John E. Lewis, special agent in charge of the Phoenix Bureau, has made the FBI his life and still finds it exciting and fulfilling.

He's working hard to dispel the image of law enforcement and the FBI portrayed on television, using outreach to educate the public.

Being in law enforcement was the only thing Lewis has ever wanted to do. The Burlington, Vt., native was introduced to this world as a young child by neighbors who were in the FBI. He also recalls taking an interest after watching the TV show The FBI, with Efrem Zimbalist Jr.

Lewis joined the bureau in Washington, D.C., at 20 after earning an associate's degree in criminal justice from Champlain Community College in Burlington. He graduated from from Southeastern University in Washington while working for a police department.

For Lewis, it's the people with whom he has worked who have made all the difference.

"The caliber of the individuals the agency hires is unparalleled. I feel like I'm walking in the land of giants, working with such good people, of high intellectual and moral character. It's professionally satisfying," he said.

"You get to do things in the FBI you can't do anywhere else . . . hair-raising experiences, investigations and interviewing and reporting, that create memories that last a lifetime. Where else can you work with multiple agencies and foil a plot or take down an Enron or help recover a missing child? It's an unusual profession. Each experience is interesting and unique and brings immense personal satisfaction. You don't find that working at Home Depot."

For example, Lewis is proud of his staff members for work they did for nearly two and a half years to capture a fraudulent medical-equipment company.

With the job have come many moves for Lewis and his family. He has traveled to almost all of 50 states, and to Europe, Australia and Russia. He's worked in Washington, D.C., Texas, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and Connecticut, before taking over leadership of the Phoenix headquarters in June 2006.

As the head of Arizona's FBI bureau, Lewis' mission and message has been direct and unwavering.

"My goal is to strengthen and extend linkage needed with

municipalities, counties, state, tribal and federal agencies," he said.

"Violence and street crime is not getting any better, and immigration issues are at an all-time high for all in law enforcement. We must be proactive and focused, which requires interagency cooperation and partnership."

Lewis admits that there are many things that the Phoenix Police Department has that he'll never have at the street level, and that other agencies have resources that his FBI office lacks. But he believes that by working together, all of these agencies can be better leaders.

The local FBI bureau is responsible for working with street gangs and narcotics, for major investigations on Indian reservations, on meth and other drugs, cyber crime, counterintelligence, protecting civil rights, and white-collar crime.

Before Sept. 11, 2001, white-collar crime was the bureau's top priority, but now it's to prevent the next attack, Lewis said.

"Some believe it is inevitable. What 9/11 embraced was the spectacular nature of panic and confusion. What we are structuring for is mass destruction, clinical and biological warfare, for which we need a high caliber of expertise," he said.

"Our playing field is here but our work is all over the world."

FBI agents are required to take retirement at age 57, so Lewis has seven more years. Outside of work, he enjoys reading non-fiction and biographies and playing golf. When he decides to leave the FBI, he know it will be hard to find work so professionally challenging and rewarding.

About the Phoenix bureau
The Phoenix headquarters is the 14th-largest field office in the United States, with several hundred agents assigned throughout the state.

The region includes Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff, Gallup N.M, Pinetop/Lakeside, Sierra Vista, Yuma and Lake Havasu. Phoenix and Albuquerque agents also work together on crimes on the Navajo reservation.