Thread by @FBI

The release of the Model T in 1908—the same year as the #FBI's founding—ushered in a new era of reliable, affordable transportation for the American people, but it also launched a new wave of crime. As car sales exploded, so did automobile thefts. #TBT ow.ly/xgNi50wYxDF

In 1919, Congress passed the Dyer Act, which made transporting stolen automobiles across state lines a federal crime. The law was a vital tool in fighting crime and protecting communities not just for state and local police but also for the #FBI. #TBT

📷 by @smithsonian

In the first two decades of the Dyer Act, the #FBI recovered more than 56,000 vehicles valued at $32 million. The law was integral to the FBI's work in the 1930s because it gave us the jurisdiction to join the hunt for notorious gangsters such as Bonnie and Clyde. #TBT