Federal law enforcement authorities have authority given to them under various parts of the United States Code (U.S.C.). Federal law enforcement officers enforce various laws, generally at only the federal level. There are exceptions, with some agencies and officials enforcing state and tribal codes. Most are limited by the U.S. Code to investigating matters that are explicitly within the power of the federal government. Some federal investigative powers have become broader in practice, since the passage of the USA PATRIOT Act in October 2001.
The Department of Justice was formerly the largest, and is still the most prominent, collection of Federal law enforcement agencies. It has handled most law enforcement duties at the federal level. It includes the United States Marshals Service (USMS), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), and others.
However, upon its creation in 2002; in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks; the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) became the Department with the most sworn armed Federal law enforcement officers and agents after it incorporated agencies seen as having roles in protecting the country against terrorism. This included large agencies such as the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—which combined the former agencies of the United States Border Patrol, United States Customs Service, and the United States Department of Agriculture's Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) into a single agency within the DHS.
While the majority of federal law enforcement employees work for the departments of Justice and Homeland Security, there are dozens of other federal law enforcement agencies under the other executive departments, as well as under the legislative and judicial branches of the federal government.
Federal law enforcement in the United States is well over two hundred years old. For example, the Postal Inspection Service can trace its origins back to 1772.
List of agencies and units of agencies
Agencies in bold text are Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA).
Office of Inspector General (USDA OIG)
United States Forest Service (USFS), U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement and Investigations (USFS LEI)
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), Office of Export Enforcement (OEE)
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), National Institute of Standards and Technology Police (NIST Police)
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Office for Law Enforcement (OLE)
Department of Commerce Office of Security (DOC OS)
Department of Commerce Office of Inspector General (DOC OIG)
Office of Inspector General (DOD OIG), Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS)
Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA), United States Pentagon Police (USPPD)
Department of Defense Police
Defense Logistics Agency, Defense Logistics Agency Police (DLA)
National Security Agency, National Security Agency Police (NSA)
Defense Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency Police (DIA)
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Police (NGA)
Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR)
Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) (organization disbanded)
Department of the Army
United States Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID)
United States Army Military Police Corps
Department of the Army Civilian Police
United States Army Corrections Command
Department of the Army Civilian Security Guards
Army Counterintelligence (CI), United States Army Intelligence and Security Command
Department of the Navy
Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS)
United States Marine Corps Criminal Investigation Division (USMC CID)
Master-at-arms (United States Navy) (military police)
Department of the Navy Police (civilian police)
Marine Corps Provost Marshal's Office (military police)
United States Marine Corps Police (civilian police)
Department of the Air Force
Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI)
Air Force Security Forces Center (AFSFC)
Air Force Security Forces (military police)
Department of the Air Force Police (civilian police)
Office of the Inspector General (ED OIG)
Office of Inspector General (DOE OIG)
Office of Health, Safety and Security (DOE HSS)
National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of Secure Transportation (OST)
Department of Health and Human Services
United States Food and Drug Administration (HHSFDA), Office of Criminal Investigations (OCI)
National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institutes of Health Police (NIH Police)
Office of Inspector General (HHS OIG)
Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC)
National Protection and Programs Directorate, Federal Protective Service (FPS)
United States Coast Guard (USCG)
Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS)
United States Coast Guard Police (CGPD)
United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
Office of Air and Marine (OAM)
Office of Border Patrol (OBP)
Office of Field Operations (OFO)
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center (MWEOC) Police
Office of Chief Security Officer (OCSO)
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO)
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)
Office of Intelligence
Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR)
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
United States Secret Service (USSS)
Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Office of Law Enforcement (OLE) / Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS)
Office of Inspection (OI)
Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (DHSOIG)
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Office of Inspector General (HUD OIG) [1]
Protective Service Division (HUD PSD)
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Office of Justice Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs Police (BIA Police)
Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Office of Law Enforcement (BLM Rangers and Special Agents)
Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), Bureau of Reclamation Office of Law Enforcement (BOR Rangers)
Hoover Dam Police aka Bureau of Reclamation Police
National Park Service (NPS), Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services (U.S. Park Rangers-Law Enforcement)
United States Park Police
Office of Inspector General (DOI OIG)
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE)
United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Office of Law Enforcement (FWS OLE)
Division of Refuge Law Enforcement
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF)
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) (since 1973)
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Federal Bureau of Investigation Police (FBI Police)
Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP)
United States Marshals Service (USMS)
Office of Inspector General (DOJ OIG)
Office of Professional Responsibility (DOJ OPR)
Office of Inspector General (DOLOIG)
Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DS), U.S. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS)
Office of Foreign Missions
Office of the Inspector General
Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
Office of Inspector General (DOTOIG)
United States Merchant Marine Academy Department of Public Safety (USMMADPS)
Office of Odometer Fraud Investigation - NHTSA (OFI)
Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau
Bureau of Engraving and Printing Police (BEP Police)
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCEN)
Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CI)
United States Mint Police (USMP)
Office of Inspector General (TREASOIG)
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA)
Special Inspector General for the Troubled Assets Relief Program (SIGTARP)
Office of Inspector General (VAOIG)
Veterans Affairs Police
Sergeant at Arms of the United States House of Representatives
Sergeant at Arms of the United States Senate
United States Capitol Police (USCP)
Office of the Inspector General (USCP OIG)
Office of Professional Responsibility (USCP OPR)
Library of Congress (LOC)
Office of the Inspector General (LOCOIG)
Government Publishing Office (GPO), Government Publishing Office Police
Office of Inspector General (GPO OIG)
Marshal of the United States Supreme Court
United States Supreme Court Police
Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AOUSC)
Office of Probation and Pretrial Services
Independent Agencies and Quasi-official Corporations
Central Intelligence Agency, Security Protective Service (CIA SPS)
United States Environmental Protection Agency, Criminal Investigation Division (EPA CID)
Office of Inspector General (EPA OIG)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Office of Protective Services (NASA OPS)
Office of Inspector General (NASA OIG)
Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
Office of Inspector General (OPM OIG)
Federal Investigative Services Division (FIS) / National Background Investigations Bureau (NBIB)
Facilities, Security, and Emergency Management
United States Postal Service (USPS), United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), U.S. Postal Police
United Stats Postal Service Office of the Inspector General
Smithsonian Institution (SI)
Office of Protection Services
National Zoological Park Police (NZPP)
Office of the Inspector General (OIG)
Amtrak
Amtrak Office of Inspector General
Amtrak Office of Security Strategy and Special Operations (OSSSO)
Amtrak Police
Federal Reserve Bank, Federal Reserve Police
Tennessee Valley Authority, Tennessee Valley Authority Police (TVAP)
Office of Inspector General (TVA OIG)
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
Office of Inspector General (NRC OIG)
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Office of the Inspector General (NSF OIG)
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
Office of the Inspector General (NARA OIG)
Railroad Retirement Board (RRB)
Office of Inspector General (RRB OIG)
Small Business Administration (SBA)
Office of Inspector General (SBA OIG)
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
Office of Inspector General (FDIC OIG)
General Services Administration (GSA)
Office of Inspector General (GSA OIG)
Social Security Administration (SSA)
Office of Inspector General (SSA OIG)
United States Agency for International Development
Office of Inspector General (AID OIG)
Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS)
Office of the Inspector General (CNCS OIG)
In 2004, federal agencies employed approximately 105,000 full-time personnel authorized to make arrests and carry firearms in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Compared with 2002, employment of such personnel increased by 13%.
Nationwide, there were 36 federal officers per 100,000 residents. Outside the District of Columbia, which had 1,662 per 100,000, State ratios ranged from 90 per 100,000 in Arizona to 7 per 100,000 in Iowa.
As of 2004, about 3 in 4 federal law enforcement officers working outside the Armed Forces were employed within the Department of Homeland Security or the Department of Justice.
Federal officers' duties included criminal investigation (38%), police response and patrol (21%), corrections and detention (16%), inspections (16%), court operations (5%), and security and protection (4%).
Women accounted for 16% of federal officers in 2004, an increase from 14.8% in 2002.
A third (33.2%) of federal officers were members of a racial or ethnic minority in 2004. This included 17.7% who were Hispanic or Latino, and 11.4% who were black or African American. In 2002, racial or ethnic minorities officers comprised 32.4% of federal officers.
Twenty-seven federal offices of inspector general (IG) employed criminal investigators with arrest and firearm authority in 2004. Overall, these agencies employed 2,867 such officers in the 50 states and District of Columbia.
