**UPDATE: Bobby Chacon can be seen as a cast member/investigator on the upcoming Facebook Watch original series “Curse of Akakor” premiering August 11, 2019 on Facebook Watch.**
Special Agent Bobby Chacon is a retired FBI Agent and attorney who currently advises television shows and movies on FBI related issues as well as provides commentary to national news outlets regarding law enforcement, counterterrorism and other matters, mainly involving the FBI. Bobby Chacon also appears as an on camera expert on several true crime televisions series such as “It Takes a Killer”, “Deep Undercover”, “Murderous Affairs”, “I Married a Murderer” and others. Additionally Bobby Chacon has recently been called upon to offer his expert advice on investigations conducted in the television shows “Hunting Hitler” on History and “Breaking Homicide” on Discovery ID. In late 2018 Bobby Chacon was featured on the Oxygen documentary “Method of a Serial Killer” about the last serial killer case Chacon worked before retiring from the FBI.
Special Agent Robert “Bobby” Chacon entered on duty with the FBI in September, 1987, after graduating from Hofstra University Law School. SA Chacon was initially assigned to an FBI Organized Crime Task Force with the NYPD aimed at the Lucchese Organized Crime Family. In this capacity SA Chacon gained valuable experience in developing informants. conducting wiretaps, and performing physical surveillance. Agent Chacon’s first assignment was on the “KENRAC” case short for Kennedy (Airport) Racketeering. KENRAC was an investigation into the mafia’s control of the cargo industry at JFK Airport, mainly through its control of the two Teamster local unions employing cargo drivers at JFK.
In 1989 SA Chacon transferred to a newly formed Squad targeting non-traditional organize crime. SA Chacon quickly acquired a knack for developing and working confidential informants. Working with his partner, a seasoned NYPD Detective, SA Chacon spent the next 12 years becoming the FBI’s foremost expert in Jamaican Posses. SA Chacon and his partner completed dozens substantial RICO/CCE investigations resulting in the prosecutions and convictions of hundreds of extremely violent Jamaican Posse members. SA Chacon oversaw wiretap operations, undercover operations, high risk search and arrest warrant executions, surveillance teams, consensual monitoring techniques and international liaison and operations with police in Jamaica, the U.K. and Canada. SA Chacon was called upon to testify before a criminal court in Montreal, Canada as an expert witness in Jamaican Posse investigations. SA Chacon also testified before a sub committee of the Canadian Parliament which was attempting to write a RICO type law aimed at narcotics trafficking organizations. SA Chacon’s investigative work was featured in a magazine article, a book and a documentary about Jamaican Posses. SA Chacon was interviewed for numerous television specials on Jamaican Organized Crime groups.
In 1995 SA Chacon became a part-time diver of the FBI New York Field Office’s Dive Team. At that time the NYO Dive Team was the only officially sanctioned dive team in the FBI. SA Chacon was deployed to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics as an FBI diver and to the 1996 crash of TWA flight 800 in which 230 passengers and crew perished. It was the largest search and recovery effort in the history of US law enforcement and the dive operations lasted for more then four months. In 2000 SA Chacon became the full time team leader of the dive team making him the first full time diver in FBI history.
In 2001 the FBI Laboratory decided to use the New York dive team as the model for a national underwater forensic program. SA Chacon was tasked with helping the FBI Laboratory to setup similar teams in Miami, Los Angeles and Washington, DC. SA Chacon spent two years setting up the FBI’s national underwater forensic program. This included establishing the criteria for selection of the new divers, the protocols to be used to evaluate new diver candidates, the basic training of the new divers and the basic equipment inventories needed for each new team. During these two years SA Chacon spent significant time traveling around the US consulting dive specialists from the US military, the scientific and academic dive fields, specialists in diving medicine and diving equipment manufacturers. Simultaneous to this SA Chacon was still the team leader for the FBI NY dive team and conducted numerous dive operations including the 2001/2002 dives near Ft. Derrick, Maryland in the Anthrax investigation and 2003 underwater search for debris from the Space Shuttle accident.
In 2002 SA Chacon was assigned to a six month temporary duty assignment (TDY) in counterterrorism at the 2002 Slat Lake City Winter Olympic Games. In 2003 SA Chacon transferred to the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office and was assigned as the Rapid Deployment Team Leader and a part-time member of the FBI Los Angeles Dive Team (which he had earlier setup). This led SA Chacon to a nine month TDY to Athens, Greece to work out of the US Embassy and provide counterterrorism assistance to Greek Olympic security officials and to assist in the deployment of FBI and other US government security assets to the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics. In 2005 SA Chacon was selected by the FBI Training Division to be a training team leader to deploy to Baghdad, Iraq to conduct a four month counterterrorism course to Iraqi police and military officers. SA Chacon was in charge of four instructors and three translators and interacted daily with high ranking Iraqi police officials.
In late 2005 SA Chacon returned to Los Angeles from Iraq and was assigned to the FBI Los Angeles Counterterrorism Division as the FBI Los Angeles Crisis Management Coordinator, CMC, and remained a part-time diver. As the FBI CMA SA Chacon coordinated with all other public safety agencies in Los Angeles at special events such as award shows, national level athletic events and crisis sites. This included coordinating all on scene FBI assets assisting at an event or crisis such as setting up, staffing and operating the FBI’s Mobile Command Post Vehicle.
In 2006 SA Chacon was selected to a team of senior FBI divers who were assigned to deploy to Yusafiah, Iraq and conduct dive operations in conjunction with the US military and Army CID. In 2007 SA Chacon was selected to be the full time Senior Team Leader of the FBI Los Angeles Dive Team making him the first (and still only) Agent to lead two different FBI Dive Teams. SA Chacon was the Senior Team Leader from 2007 until his retirement in 2014. During this time the dive team, under SA Chacon’s leadership, conducted dozens of successful underwater search and recovery operations all over the U.S. and some overseas. SA Chacon was responsible for a multi-million dollar inventory of technical dive gear, numerous vessels and vehicles and an annual operating budget. SA Chacon manages a team of 15 highly trained FBI forensic divers under the auspices of the FBI Laboratory’s Evidence Response Team Unit. SA Chacon maintained close and highly effective liaison with his counterparts on the state and local level as well as those in military and commercial dive industries. In 2010 SA Chacon was selected by the FBI’s University Education Program to attend commercial dive school at the College of Oceaneering where he earned his A.S. degree in Marine Science Technology and his commercial underwater welding license. As the Senior FBI Diver in the FBI SA Chacon was an Master Scuba Diver Trainer and regularly taught diving inside and outside the FBI and both inside the US and overseas. SA Chacon conceived, established and taught the FBI’s 80 hour Basic Forensic Diver Course.
Over the last 14 years SA Chacon has been interviewed numerous times on the topic of underwater crime scenes and underwater search and recovery. SA Chacon’s teams have been involved in almost every major, high profile underwater search for the past 15 years and includes everything from major airplane crashes to body recoveries to underwater evidence collection. SA Chacon is a recognized expert in the field of underwater crime scenes and underwater search and recovery.
In August 2015 Bobby Chacon was hired as the Technical Advisor for the new television series, Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders. In this capacity Bobby Chacon consults with and advises writers, directors and actors on the proper role and functioning of FBI Agents in a variety of roles and tasks.
In 2016 Bobby Chacon appeared in Criminal Minds Beyond Borders in an on camera role making him eligible to join the Screen Actors Guild. In January, 2017 Bobby Chacon became a member of SAG/AFTRA. Bobby Chacon’s thirty plus years in the federal government and law enforcement make his experience current and relevant to the numerous topics he gets called upon to provide commentary on national and international media outlets.
Bobby Chacon is now often called upon to provide expert commentary to national and international news programs on a wide variety of topics including crime and investigations, terrorism, counter terrorism, security, political issues and all things FBI related.
Bobby Chacon is working on writing a feature film and a television series both based on his FBI work in counter-terrorism and based on true events.
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