By Gianna Aguglia

William Crowley, a professor at La Roche University and retired FBI Special Agent, shared his experience in law enforcement on 9/11. 

Crowley said that he was a history major until his last year at the University of Connecticut. He switched his major in undergrad and became an education major. After attending the New England School of Law, he became a Special Agent in the FBI a year after he graduated. He spent 27 years in the FBI. 

During the 9/11 investigation, Crowley was the Special Agent in charge of crisis communications where Flight 93 crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.  

Now, Crowley works at La Roche University, where he is the Department Chair of Justice, Law, and Security.  

Background 

Q: When did you learn of the attack on 9/11? 

A: “I was up in Erie, Pennsylvania. There was an FBI office up there. And I was actually receiving training with about 10 other agents. Okay, so what ended up happening was we were involved in the training, and then an agent came in and said, ‘A plane just hit one of the Twin Towers in New York.’  

“So, the number two person in our office was also there, and he said, ‘There’s nothing we can do here. Let’s just finish our training.’ Then about 10 minutes later, one between the two said, ‘Another tower, another plane just hit the other tower, we’re under attack. Everybody, lights and sirens back to Pittsburgh.’  

“So, I was going about 110 miles an hour, so normally, about a two-hour drive turned into about an hour and a half to get back to Pittsburgh.” 

Investigation 

Q: At what point did you get involved in the investigation? 

A: “Right then and there. I immediately drove home, drove back to the office, and then we were there. They had already sent a team of people out to Shanksville. They were completely involved in setting up a command post, identifying where the plane went down, and trying to establish what’s crime scene.  

“So, it’s completely surrounded, and then all these different law enforcement agencies came, and you had to organize it. Because it was a terrorist act, a lot of law enforcement can show up, and it’s really hard to tell who’s in charge. The FBI had jurisdiction because of the type of violation.  

“I was in in Pittsburgh, and then they had the person who was my backup for the media go out with the additional group. The very next day, he drove back to Pittsburgh, and then I drove out to Shanksville. So, the next day after the attack was when I went in and started having press conferences.” 

Q: Can you explain the role of being the special agent in charge of crisis communications where Flight 93 crashed? 

A: “It’s obviously extremely important when you have a crisis like that to be able to give out information to help the public understand what’s going on. Pretty much the whole country was extremely upset. The most important thing was, what’s going to happen next?  

“So, we had what was called an Evidence Response Team, and they were basically setting up and creating an area. Essentially, they were trying to determine how big of an area they should keep people out of so that they could work on the scene where the evidence would be.  

“Almost immediately, we set up at 10am and at either 3pm or 4pm, and we would have two press conferences a day.” 

Q: What was the most unsettling finding in your investigation? 

A: “There weren’t any intact bodies, so the biggest challenge for the crime scene was to try to get DNA. In order to pronounce someone dead, you have to verify it.  

“You have to at least get DNA of someone, so that if you do find material of a body, you can check and see who’s the right person.” 

Reflecting Back  

Q: What kept you grounded during that day and time? 

A: “Family life. I have a wife and kids, so you know, keeping in touch with them. Also, I knew most of the people that were there. These were my colleagues and friends. So, you would just check in with each other.  

“You know, you had a job to do, and that’s what the expectation is when you’re there. This is what you stuck out for. It’s overwhelming and it’s exhausting. I was pretty tired, but then you just get this incredible surge of the present.” 

Q: If you knew then what you know now, would you have done anything differently?  

A: “No, it actually came at a time when I had enough experience to be able to do the job that I was needed to do. I had been working with the media for about four or five years, so I had a pretty good understanding.  

“I also was at a good age where I had the energy to be able to do what I needed to do. It was an exhausting task. If I had to do it now, I’m not sure that I could, and if I had done that a few years earlier, I think I would have been overwhelmed.” 

Q: When you look back on that day, what is the most prominent emotion that you feel?  

A: “I was just angry. I was frustrated, and there were some things that were happening in the country that I was uncomfortable with. Some of the people who worship Islam; I was worried about them being targeted.  

“As the FBI, that was another thing that we had to deal with. So, trying to stay focused on who’s responsible for what happened, and then trying to disassociate your emotions with the goal that you have to accomplish.” 

Personal and Professional Impact 

Q: How did that day impact you personally or professionally? 

A: “It had a profound effect. I’ve had an unusual career. The first half of my career was with the FBI pre 9/11, and then the rest of my career was the FBI post 9/11, so the culture had changed.  

“So, it was really interesting, because traditionally in law enforcement, you’re kind of reactive. You’re waiting for something to happen, and then you go find out who was responsible, bring them to justice; those types of things. Now, our marching orders were, you need to stop this before it happens, which is a very challenging thing. 

“I was lucky. The director at the time, Robert Mueller, was a very talented guy. He’s a very intense, hardworking man, and he was the perfect guy for the change. He did a lot of things that made us much more intelligence based. He made us a much more rigorous component of the FBI. Again, try to anticipate what’s going to happen before it happens, and then stop it.  

“They set a program up where you would go through a three-day seminar at Northwestern University, Kellogg School, which is their MBA program. They had different professors who talked about change and about constant change.  

“The other thing that they did, which I thought was really interesting, is they made this book, “Who Moved My Cheese”, almost like mandatory, and it had a big impact on me. It’s a very simple parable. It reads like a children’s book, and you can read it in about two hours. The whole idea is that if you don’t embrace change, then you’re going to be left behind.  

“You have to constantly think about the future. So, what I’ve found that has had a big impact on my life, like specifically the transition that we had as an organization, is just how can we do things better, always trying to improve.  

“I’ve even used that mindset here at the school, where I’m constantly looking at our program. That’s one of the reasons why we started the cybersecurity program, because I think that’s really the future of law enforcement.  

“So, not accepting the way things are, always thinking in terms of, how can I get better, and what’s available for me to do that. To me, that’s probably the biggest change that I’ve had.” 

Honoring 9/11 

Q: Every year on 9/11, how do you honor that day? 

A: “I mean, I think about it. There’s a good book actually, called “The Threat Matrix”, and Garrett Graff explains essentially how former Director Mueller changed the FBI to meet the challenge.  

“So, he first set people up that this is what we need to do, to change, and now that we have the mechanisms and mindset, now this is what we’re going to do.” 

Q: What is one thing you would ask fellow Americans to do to pay homage to that day?  

A: “I’ve always been really interested in American history, specifically World War II. So, I always reflect on December 7^th, Pearl Harbor, and I think a lot of people don’t do that.  

“I think that was a sea change in our country, and I think 9/11 was as well. So, if you’re not a student of history, I think you’re going to repeat it. If you don’t know history, you have to learn it.”