Herb Brown, special agent in charge of the FBI's Sacramento office, stopped by The Bee last week for a live chat with readers to address everything from copper theft investigations to mortgage fraud probes.

Brown, whose jurisdiction stretches from the Oregon border to Bakersfield, was taking part in a monthly series of chats on www.sacbee.com. Next month's chat from 11 a.m. to noon will be on Feb. 7 and features Citrus Heights Police Chief Christopher Boyd.

The full transcript of Brown's chat is available on the Sacto 9-1-1 blog. Here are some excerpts:

I would like to know if the FBI ever gets involved with officer-involved shootings and, if so, under what circumstances?

Herb Brown: The FBI, in coordination with local law enforcement and internal affairs, will do a cursory review of the event to determine if the action is a potential civil rights issue called a color of law violation.

Seems like there have been quite a lot of bank robberies as of late … has the FBI solved any of these?

HB: We have a very proactive Violent Crime fugitive bank robbery squad utilizing task force officers from various agencies. The Sacramento FBI office is ranked third in the FBI in solving bank robberies. The rate of robberies is unchanged year-to-year.

What's the status of the big meth problem in the Valley?

HB: Because of the increased use of meth in the Valley, the FBI in conjunction with the DEA and High Intensity Drug Trafficking Task Forces continues to identify drug trafficking organizations who are working with a variety of gangs to distribute these drugs.

Can you provide us a status on the hate groups in the region? We experienced an incident at our religious institution two years ago and the support we received from the FBI was great. To our knowledge no one was apprehended. So just wanted to know the status of the local hate groups.

HB: Sacramento FBI Domestic Terrorism Unit proactively monitors various source information as it relates to potential hate crime activity in the area. We also encourage any citizen to report any hate crime incident directly to the local office.

What is the FBI doing to help the locals with copper thefts? It seems like the locals are unable or unwilling to aggressively pursue these cases and they are now out of hand. Can the bureau help?

HB: Great question! Recently, we have coordinated with local law enforcement officials to have a full-time investigative analyst assigned to an ongoing task force operation to address this issue.

What is the FBI doing to combat ATM skimming in the area? Recently my card was stolen and subsequently used in Europe to withdraw cash. I no longer feel safe using my debit and credit cards.

HB: Skimming is a common identity theft crime problem that is on the rise. Many of our investigations involving identity theft are coordinated with local and state partners as well as banking institutions.

What's the stance on local cannabis dispensaries?

HB: The U.S. attorneys in the state of California, along with our federal partners, are looking at the larger issue of people violating federal marijuana laws and who are working with major Mexican drug trafficking organizations.

So no plans to target smaller dispensaries?

HB: Not as it relates to FBI investigations.

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