Special agent
From Free net encyclopedia
Special Agent may refer to:
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In the United States Government
- Any civilian (i.e. non-military rank) federal criminal or non-criminal investigator or detective in the 1811, 0081, or similar job series as so titled according to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) handbook. Such persons are usually armed and have the power to arrest and conduct investigations into the violation of federal laws.
- Just about every federal agency has some type of special agent, including, but not limited to, those employed within the:
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
- Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
- Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF)
- U.S. Marshals Service (USMS)
- Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
- United States Secret Service (USSS)
- Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
- Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CID)
- Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS)
- Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS)
- Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI)
- Army Criminal Investigations Division (USACIDC)
- 57 federal Offices of Inspector General (OIG)
For a complete list of federal law enforcement agencies employing series 1811 federal agents, visit the Federal Law Enforcement Officer's Association (FLEOA) website.
- A state or municipal criminal investigator if so titled by the employing agency.
- A secret agent.
Jurisdictional issues
The use of the term "Special Agent" for US Federal Law Enforcement Officers, as opposed to a federal police officer, derives from the fact that all such individuals have limited jurisdiction. They may only enforce certain sections of the US Code, or be limited to a certain geographic area, or both. There is no such thing as a "General Agent" that is empowered to enforce all laws, everywhere in the United States. This is in contrast to individual states, which can and most often do have General Agents, though they are not usually referred to as such. A state police or highway patrol organization typically has the authority to enforce all state laws everywhere within the geographic confines of that state.
Exactly which Special Agents have the broadest authority is a matter of debate. The issue of concurrent jurisdiction (in which two agencies have non-exclusive jurisdiction over a given set of the US Code, such as the FBI and DEA in respect to drug laws) does not make the issue more clear. The most likely candidates would be Special Agents with either ICE, NCIS, AFOSI, or USACIDC.
ICE Special Agents are not limited to operating at or near ports of entry, but instead can operate anywhere in the US and even enforce US law and international treaties overseas. ICE agents not only have the power to enforce all federal laws, but also applicable state & local laws. NCIS, AFOSI, and USACIDC agents not only investigate and enforce most of the laws within the US Code; they do the same with the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), a jurisdiction held by neither ICE nor the FBI.
US railroads
All of the major Class I railroads and most regional carriers employ their own police departments whose officers carry the title Special Agent. Railroad Special Agents are commissioned by the Governor of the state they are employed in, are also armed, and carry both state and federal arrest powers in all states in which their employing railroad owns property. Their primary concern is policing crimes against the railroad, although they do have the authority to police the general public, make arrests on public property, and enforce applicable local, state, and/or federal laws when necessary.
Railroad Police and the term "Special Agent," along with the Pinkerton Detective Agency, were models for the FBI when it was created in 1907.