Pioneering Former Special Agent Says She Joined FBI to Preserve US ‘Laws and Liberties’

Long before she became an inspiration for Clarice Starling in ‘The Silence of the Lambs,’ Jana Monroe knew from the age of 13 exactly what she wanted to do.
Pioneering Former Special Agent Says She Joined FBI to Preserve US ‘Laws and Liberties’
FBI "Cyber Division" Assistant Director Jana Monroe attends a news conference to unveil an FBI anti-piracy seal and warning text, to be displayed on digital and software intellectual property, in Los Angeles on Feb. 19, 2004. David McNew/Getty Images
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As one of the first female agents in the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit and a key figure in developing the Bureau’s profiling techniques for serial killers and establishing its first cyber security team after 9/11, Jana Monroe has been breaking new ground.

Long before she became an inspiration for Clarice Starling in “The Silence of the Lambs,” Monroe knew from the age of 13 exactly what she wanted to do. She recalled that she was never that kid who waffled between being a ballerina one week and a doctor the next.

Jennifer Dornbush
Jennifer Dornbush
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