DETROIT – David Gelios is the newest special agent in charge of the FBI's Detroit office. But he's not like most FBI bosses. His background is in education and coaching, which are skills that he says is uses every day to keep the community safe.
Since the attacks in Paris, Gelios said he has met with area law enforcement and triple-checked all Michigan investigations into potential ISIS threats -- which is his top priority. But he's also on top of cyberthreats and organized efforts to steal corporate business secrets and personal information in order to make money that can finance criminal and terror organizations. Gelios is also familiar with public corruption and plans to keep the heat on that, too.
"There has been some robust public corruption investigations here in Detroit and elsewhere. It think it should always remain on the radar," Gelios said.
His agents will investigate any type of crime, from financial to those against children, with a special push to stop all the violent crime in the country's most violent city.
"I don't think you can be the SAC of the Detroit field office without prioritizing and trying to combat a spike in violent crime across the country," Gelios said.
Before Gelios had a career in crime-fighting, he played volleyball on the Final Four Ball State Cardinals team in the mid-1980s, and then coached them for them in the early 1990s. He said he sees a lot of correlations between coaching sports and leading an FBI office. One of his favorite quotes is, "If you strive for perfection, you're inevitably going to grab excellence."
"I think it's important that we excel at what we do. I am proud of the record of the FBI and I think that if you have that sort of philosophy, we are bound to be successful," Gelios said.
He comes from Ohio and grew up watching the Buckeyes, but he is smart enough to know this is Spartan and Wolverine country.
"I certainly grew up with loyalties to Ohio State, but I generally root for the Big Ten," Gelios said.
His love for law enforcement came during visits to Michigan.
"Growing up as a kid visiting family in Detroit, I had an uncle that was a Macomb County sheriff's deputy, an uncle who was an Oak Park policeman, and a cousin who became a Macomb County sheriff's deputy," Gelios said.
After he decided to join the FBI, he never looked back. The career has taken his family to Alaska and Washington D.C.
He plans to make Detroit his final stop before retirement.
"It's a passionate crew here. They are dedicated and they like to work here," Gelios said. "You can't teach passion."
For Gelios' full biography from the FBI, click here.