Members of the Northampton Exchange Club were provided an inside look into the operations and evolution of the FBI at their recent dinner meeting at the Northampton Memorial Community Center.

The presentation was given by Albert Sproule, a former FBI agent who currently serves as an assistant professor at DeSales University in its criminal justice undergraduate and graduate programs.

"America has to be resilient. We live in a world of uncertainty," Sproule said, noting the FBI strives to be proactive when it comes to law enforcement.

The country is safer since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, but intelligence gathering and other forms of surveillance remain a priority, according to Sproule.

A former Marine Corps officer who spent 23-1/2 years as an FBI agent, Sproule provided three snapshots of the FBI – the bureau of the 1950s and 1960s, the bureau of the 1970s and the bureau of the more recent era.

The FBI combats organized crime, interstate criminal activity, white collar crime and increased domestic and international terrorism.

Sproule praised former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, who he said believed the agency had to follow the law to act.