David Bowdich is an American executive and former law enforcement officer serving as the Chief Security Officer of

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

. Prior to this, he served as the Deputy Director of the FBI.

Early life and education

Bowdich was born and raised in

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

.Boetel, Ryan (January 4, 2015). "From APD cop to a top FBI post – After nearly 20 years with the bureau, ABQ native David Bowdich to lead LA’s field office". ''Albuquerque Journal'' (Albuquerque, New Mexico). p. A1. His father, Joe Bowdich, served with the Albuquerque Police Department for 30 years and was the

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

Bernalillo County Bernalillo County () is the most populous county in the U.S. state of New Mexico.Bernalillo ...

for seven years. Bowdich's grandfather was a deputy chief for the Albuquerque Fire Department. Bowdich attended high school at Temple Baptist Academy, graduating in 1987. Bowdich earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the Rehabilitation (penology), rehabilitation of o ...

from

New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's tw ...

in 1991. He later received a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in leadership from the

McDonough School of Business The Robert Emmett McDonough School of Business, commonly shorted to the McDonough School of Business and abbreviated as the MSB, is the business school of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1957, it grants both undergraduate and ...

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

Career

Bowdich was a police officer with the

Albuquerque Police Department The Albuquerque Police Department (APD) is the municipal law enforcement agency of Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is the largest police force in the state, with approximately 1,000 sworn officers in 2022. In addition to serving as the primary p ...

from 1991 to 1995, where he patrolled the

Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

and North Valley area commands and served as a detective in the North Valley. Bowdich joined the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

in 1995 in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

field office, where he served as a

SWAT team In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...

member and investigated violent crimes and gangs. Bowdich managed an investigation that resulted in convictions against street gang members in the

United States District Court for the Southern District of California The United States District Court for the Southern District of California (in case citations, S.D. Cal.) is a federal court in the Ninth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appe ...

. Bowdich received a promotion to the headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2003, serving in the Safe Streets and Gang Unit. After two years at headquarters, Bowdich transferred to supervising a multi-agency gang task force in San Diego. Bowdich managed agents investigating drug cases and racketeering cases against the

Mexican Mafia The Mexican Mafia (Spanish: ''Mafia Mexicana''), also known as ''La eMe'' (Spanish for "the M"), is a Mexican American criminal organization in the United States. Despite its name, the Mexican Mafia did not originate in Mexico, and is entirely ...

Bloods The Bloods are a primarily African-American street gang founded in Los Angeles, California. The gang is widely known for its rivalry with the Crips. It is identified by the red color worn by its members and by particular gang symbols, includin ...

Crips The Crips is an alliance of street gangs that is based in the coastal regions of Southern California. Founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1969, mainly by Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams, the Crips were initially a single alliance ...

, and

Hells Angels The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is a worldwide outlaw motorcycle club whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporatio ...

. In 2009, Bowdich became in charge of the field office in

. Bowdich noticed that there was a trend of kidnapping committed by Mexican cartel-related criminal enterprises, so he initiated an interagency squad that built a large-scale criminal case against 43 members and associates of the cartel who were kidnapping individuals in and around San Diego. Bowdich also supervised the investigations into the murders of two

United States Border Patrol The United States Border Patrol (USBP) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency under the United States' U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Customs and Border Protection and is responsible for securing ...

agents.

FBI Deputy Director Bowdich Attends Candlelight Vigil

By 2011, Bowdich was the Federal Bureau of Investigation supervisor in San Diego, managing 100 agents and officers around

Mexico–United States border The Mexico–United States border ( es, frontera Estados Unidos–México) is an international border separating Mexico and the United States, extending from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border traver ...

. In 2012, Bowdich was promoted to special agent in charge of the Counterterrorism Division at the Federal Bureau of Investigation's office in Los Angeles and overseas investigations in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

."David Bowdich Named Special Agent in Charge of FBI Los Angeles Counterterrorism Division". ''Government Press Releases''. September 14, 2012."David Bowdich Named Assistant Director in Charge of FBI Los Angeles" ''US Fed News''. December 24, 2014. That year, he oversaw an investigation and arrest of four individuals involved in a terrorism plot."FBI conference to discuss local men suspected in terrorism plot". ''Inland Valley Daily Bulletin'' (Ontario, California). November 20, 2012. The four individuals were arrested and charged with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists in preparation for or in carrying out acts of terrorism. In 2013, Bowdich was part of a team of people from the Federal Bureau of Investigation that traveled to

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

, to meet with Bangladeshi Minister of Home Affairs

Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir (born 1 March 1942) is a Bangladeshi politician. He is a Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Chandpur-1 constituency since 2008, and was Minister of Home Affairs from 2011 to 2013. He is also an economist, civil serv ...

and to Inspector General of Police Hassan Mahmood Khandaker to discuss the proliferation of militancy and how to increase law enforcement officers' effectiveness through training. In 2014, Bowdich was promoted to Assistant Director in Charge (ADIC) of the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

office. He was responsible for the Federal Bureau of Investigation's response to the San Bernardino attack in 2015. After

Andrew McCabe Andrew George McCabe (born March 18, 1968) is an American attorney who served as the Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from February 2016 to March 2018 and as the acting Director of the FBI from May 9, 2017, to Augus ...

went on leave on January 29, 2018, prior to his dismissal from the FBI, Bowdich, as Associate Deputy Director, assumed his position. Bowdich was formally appointed Deputy Director on April 13, 2018, by Director

Christopher A. Wray Christopher Asher Wray (born December 17, 1966) is an American attorney who is the eighth Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, serving since 2017. From 2003 to 2005, Wray served as Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Crimin ...

. Bowdich fired Agent

Peter Strzok Peter Paul Strzok II (, like ''struck''; born March 7, 1970) is a former United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent. He was the Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI's Counterintelligence Division and led the investigation into R ...

on August 10, 2018. He served as Deputy Director until 2021. In 2022, he became the Chief Security Officer of

References

External links

David Bowdich at FBI.gov
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowdich, David L. Living people American police officers Deputy Directors of the Federal Bureau of Investigation New Mexico State University alumni McDonough School of Business alumni Trump administration personnel Year of birth missing (living people)