How commonn is that local police and the FBI tread on each other’s toes like in the movies?

7 comments

1. Not that common because the FBI and virtually every other federal law enforcement agency get involved only in federal crimes and state crimes that cross state borders (*e.g.,* someone murders someone in California and flees to Florida).

   When they do get involved, it is often for cooperation in the operation or in the investigation. Everything you see in movies is almost entirely hyperbolic or outright false.

2. Imagine someone came up to you at work and said “HEY THIS IS MY WORK, GO OVER THERE AND RELAX”. You’d probably say thanks and go relax. But in reality we all try to get out of work, not typically take more work on.

   That’s the reality of agencies arguing with each other, it’s usually more like “nuh uh, this is in your area, You handle this shit show”

3. Rarely.

   I worked narcotics for ten years. The feds approached us once to take over the cases we worked to charge multiple suspects all at once. Only because they were able to bring federal charges for interstate Rico and conspiracy. So when our city arrested close to 50 gang members at once, the feds and a different state and city arrested the suppliers in New York, Philly and Miami.

   They tied them all into the same crimes and that was that.

4. I’ve never heard of it happening, and I have a lot of friends and family in law enforcement at both the federal and local levels.

   Their jurisdictions only ever intersect when a federal crime is committed. At that point it isn’t the feds “taking over” the investigation in a hostile sense, it’s them stepping in to do their jobs.

   The trope of the regular cops being told to pack it up and go home by the feds has next to no basis in reality. You don’t snub additional manpower and resources, it’s a collaborative effort.

5. The FBI steps in to do their federal investigations. It’s not like they’re taking over the local or state investigation.

   If the FBI gets involved with a local or state case, it’s likely because the local or state agency requested the FBI to get involved.

   Sometimes states even request other states to assist with investigations. For example, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is assisting the FBI and the Indiana State Police [with this murder case](https://news.yahoo.com/delphi-murders-georgia-investigators-fbi-043039623.html) because, according to rumors, Georgia has a computer crimes unit that can assist Indiana with tracking down a catfishing lead.

6. I’m not an expert by any means, but the only case of this that I remember hearing about was between Dallas PD and the FBI following the JFK assassination. Other than that, it seems much more common for a police department to actually request that the FBI get involved because their department is not equipped to handle a particular crime.

7. Not common. What is more common but never shown in TV and movies is different federal law enforcement agencies stepping on *each other’s* toes. Turf battles are real.