 They are stationed abroad solely in furtherance of the FBI's law enforcement and counterterrorism missions, constantly interacting with local police for the benefit of both countries.
In addition to the expanded number of Legats, an initiative that likely will pay enormous dividends in the years to come is the International Law Enforcement Academy in Budapest. Working hand-in-hand with the State Department and other agencies, we now train 250 students per year, all officers from the former Eastern Bloc countries. This coupled with a greatly enhanced foreign police training program that conducts classes both here and abroad greatly expands the FBI's ability to conduct investigations that have international aspects and spreads throughout the region the fundamentals of policing under the rule of law.
In order to help strengthen every aspect of FBI operations, I also appointed Michael A. Defeo, a distinguished career prosecutor and senior official of the Department of Justice with extensive experience in extremely sensitive internal inquiry investigations, to head up our new independent Office of Professional Responsibility. We have doubled the number of employees -- from approximately 30 to 60 -- dedicated to identifying, investigating, and adjudicating allegations of serious misconduct of FBI employees. Through this office, the FBI will continue to police itself with the same vigilance we place on fighting crime throughout the U.S.
To better combat violent crimes, the FBI currently has established 152 Safe Streets Task Forces (SSTFs) in 54 field offices. The mission of these task forces is to establish long-term proactive investigations, focusing on violent crimes and the apprehension of violent fugitives. SSTFs are comprised of 718 FBI Special Agents, 1131 state and local officers and 174 other federal law enforcement officers. The impact that these task forces have had within their communities has been impressive. For example, the Northern Connecticut Violent Crimes Safe Streets Task Force was created in January 1994. That same year, there were 58 murders in Hartford, Connecticut; however, this last year the murder rate fell to 28, a 51% decrease.
While white collar crime investigations may not be as visible to the average American, they can have just as serious affect upon their lives. The FBI has increasingly expanded its approach to investigating white collar crime. For example, health care fraud is a multi-billion dollar problem affecting nearly every American. Using the new laws Congress enacted last year, the FBI has greatly expanded its health care fraud program and now routinely conducts joint investigations with the Inspectors General, Medicaid Fraud Control Units, and private companies special investigations units. The FBI now has Health Care Fraud Task Forces in seven field offices investigating clinical laboratories for fraudulent marketing and billing practices. Since October 1996, three national health care laboratories have agreed to pay the government over $625 million in civil settlements, and two corporations pleaded guilty to criminal charges of conspiracy and filing false claims.
Another white collar crime investigation, "Senior Sentinel," continues to combat fraudulent telemarketers who prey on senior citizens, often bilking them out of their life savings using phoney "pitches" and high pressure tactics. To date, over 900 persons have been charged through information developed in this investigation.
Another area upon which I have placed special emphasis is the investigation of hate crimes. According to the Uniform Crime Report, there were nearly 8,000 reported hate crimes in 1995. While no crime belongs in our society, this classification of crimes is particularly heinous. To place ourselves in a better position to prevent and investigate these crimes, the FBI implemented a three-year plan during this last year to enhance our civil rights program. Beyond adding additional personnel to investigate these crimes, we are developing working relationships with the civil rights community -- partnering with all the national civil rights organizations to formulate models for reporting hate crimes, educating the community on hate crimes and the FBI's role, and developing FBI/community group partnerships on the state and local level.
To further enhance the FBI's leadership role in crimes against children, I recently directed each field office to designate two Special Agents to assist and coordinate efforts in these matters. These agents receive specialized training and are a point of contact and resource for state and local agencies involved in the investigation of these crimes. In addition, the FBI has established the Child Abduction/Serial Killer Unit to serve as a clearinghouse. Through this network of agents, we have developed a web of resources which can be quickly mobilized when a crime is reported. The first few hours are critical in a child abduction case; we must be ready to act at a moment's notice. In addition, the FBI has garnered success in investigating child pornography through its Innocent Images Investigation. Since its inception in June 1994, we have indicted 94 people and convicted another 104.
Reducing the influence of the La Cosa Nostra (LCN) organizations in American society has long been a goal of the FBI. Towards this end, the FBI initiated Operation Button Down just over a year ago. The ultimate goal of this initiative is the elimination of the LCN as the most dominant organized crime enterprise in the United States. During the first year of the initiative, Button Down offices have indicted and/or convicted a total of 4 bosses; 3 underbosses; 3 consiglieres; 46 capos; 48 soldiers; and 331 associates. There are also 65 forfeiture matters pending in Button Down offices. Since March 6, 1996, these offices have seized assets worth an estimated $116,310,210; currently, approximately $225 million are pending forfeiture in LCN cases.
The FBI has also been active in two specific new initiatives designed to stem the flow of drugs into our country. Through the Southwest Border Initiative and the Puerto Rico Initiative, we are working closely with our federal and local law enforcement partners effecting a coherent strategy to battle drug trafficking and public corruption in these regions.
I have been particularly proud of the FBI's outstanding work in investigating and arresting individuals guilty of espionage. Since the arrest of Aldrich Ames, the FBI and CIA have instituted a whole new set of measures to improve information sharing and cooperation. This enhanced cooperation enabled the FBI to identify, investigate and arrest Harold James Nicholson on November 16, 1996. Nicholson is the highest ranking CIA employee to be caught spying. In addition, the FBI also conducted a successful internal investigation and arrested FBI Supervisory Special Agent Earl Edwin Pitts on December 18, 1996. In February, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit espionage and attempted espionage charges.
In another very serious developing aspect of this type of crime, economic espionage has the potential to wreak havoc with trade, commerce and business in this country. The Economic Espionage Act of 1996 provided law enforcement with a tool to deal more effectively with trade secret theft. As a result, we have begun a major economic espionage initiative. Government and corporate proprietary economic information sustains the health, integrity, and competitiveness of the American economy. The passage of the Economic Espionage Act has facilitated our ability to act decisively on these matters.
Despite its successes, it is apparent that the FBI has made mistakes. We candidly admit those mistakes and have moved quickly and decisively to solve the problems and prevent them from happening again.
There is no better case in point then the problems in the FBI Lab. The problems identified by the Inspector General should never have been permitted to develop. There was a clear and serious failing in not adequately detecting these problems and, in many instances, not moving swiftly enough to resolve them. The FBI did not react properly to the obvious warning signs. In the final analysis, I believe the FBI's major failure was in not seeking accreditation sooner.
In addition, our prior reviews of the Lab did not go far enough. That is why we cooperated fully with the Inspector General. It was the right thing to do. We knew there were serious problems that needed to be fully identified and fixed. I acknowledged that in 1994, having begun then to make substantial improvements and repair obvious shortcomings in our procedures. Ultimately, we adopted all of his recommendations and made numerous other improvements of our own, many were begun prior to the Inspector General's inquiry. That is also why I previously instructed the Lab to seek full accreditation and why we are going to hire a top-notch scientist to run the Lab.
Other scientists have also been hired, and over the last several years we have hired more than 100 new professional forensic examiners, many with advanced degrees. These changes will substantially improve the FBI Laboratory, and most will be applied across the entire Lab. In any case, the process of obtaining full accreditation as well as our decision to inspect the remainder of the Lab using outside experts will ensure that the continuing confidence and praise expressed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the National District Attorneys Association is fully justified.
We are continuing to work very diligently to solve the problems in the Lab. There are many important efforts underway, not the least of which is construction of a new state-of-the-art teaching laboratory I mentioned previously. I am very confident these efforts will be successful and all the Lab problems will be fixed. We, including the new head of the Lab, will dedicate ourselves to working even harder to prevent new problems from arising in the future.
The same is true for the files issues. An antiquated system coupled with a lack of immediate management oversight allowed a process to develop many years ago that lacked key safeguards. Failing to protect FBI files from misuse or the possibility of mishandling or misuse are issues that resonate with concern with the American people. They understand the fundamental privacy issues that were involved. Maintaining the sanctity of the information we collect and ensuring it is only released appropriately are two of our greatest responsibilities. The FBI must protect that which it lawfully collects. I am fully confident we now have in place the appropriate safeguards and oversight of the system. As with the Lab, we have made fundamental changes, institutional changes that will be effective far into the future, that will prevent a reoccurrence of these kinds of problems.
It is my responsibility when