Steve Gonzalez, Psy.D.

Steve began his government service career on active duty in 1999 as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy, inclusive of Operation Enduring Freedom overseas deployments following 9/11 and was responsible for and integral to Psychological Operations and High Value Detainee management. His decorated service was recognized by multiple war theater commendation medals. From 2003 through 2014, as a Special Agent (SA) of the FBI, Steve was assigned to the New York Division, where he worked on International Terrorism investigations on the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). His JTTF assignments included extraterritorial (ET) investigations of Tier 1 threats and included several national security undercover roles and overseas operations resulting in the largest Counterterrorism seizure (approximately $1B) in FBI history. Among the special assignments in his FBI career, Steve worked on President George W. Bush’s Counter Terrorism Strategy team. Upon completion of this assignment, Steve was recognized with a U.S. State Department meritorious service medal for his contribution to the Countering Violent Extremism section of the President’s National Implementation Plan (NIP). In 2014, Steve was promoted to Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) at the FBI headquarters Counterterrorism Division in Washington D.C. and was responsible for the oversight of overseas human intelligence operations. Upon his return to the FBI NY division in 2016, he created and led the first ever FBI/NYPD Joint Major Theft Taskforce, specializing in Transnational Organized Crime and featuring the Jewelry and Gem (JAG) theft program and the national Art Crime Team (ACT). From 2020-2022 Steve served as the Brooklyn Queens Resident Agency (BQRA) Senior Supervisory Resident Agent (SSRA) and was responsible for the safety and security of 150 law enforcement and professional staff employees, hundreds of criminal and counterintelligence investigations, and liaison with community leaders. Throughout his FBI tenure in NY, Steve was a member of the Crisis Negotiation Team and field coordinator for the Behavioral Analysis Unit. His main collateral assignment involved conducting behavioral assessments and fitness for duty evaluations as the FBI’s Senior Field licensed Clinical and Forensic Psychologist. Steve was the Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) of the FBI New York Criminal Division from 2022 to late 2024.