Federal Law Enforcement

U.S. Border Patrol

U.S. Border Patrol

The United States Border Patrol is the mobile, uniformed law enforcement arm of U.S. Customs and Border Protection within the Department of Homeland Security responsible for securing U.S. borders between ports of entry. The Border Patrol was officially established on May 28, 1924, by an act of Congress passed in response to increasing illegal immigration. As mandated by this Act, the small border guard in what was then the Bureau of Immigration was reorganized into the Border Patrol. The initial force of 450 officers was given the responsibility of combating illegal entries and the growing business of alien smuggling.

U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms

U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms

Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) is a unique law enforcement agency in the United State Department of Justice that protects our communities from:

  • Acts of arson and bombings
  • Acts of terrorism
  • Criminal organizations
  • Illegal diversion of alcohol and tobacco products
  • Illegal use and storage of explosives
  • Illegal use and trafficking of firearms
  • Violent criminals

We partner with communities, industries, law enforcement, and public safety agencies to safeguard the public we serve through information sharing, training, research, and the use of technology.

U.S. Customs & Border Protection

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

With more than 60,000 employees, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is one of the world’s largest law enforcement organizations and is charged with keeping terrorists and their weapons out of the U.S. while facilitating lawful international travel and trade. As the world’s first full-service border entity, CBP takes a comprehensive approach to:

  • Agricultural protection into one coordinated and supportive activity
  • Border management and control
  • Border security
  • Combining customs
  • Immigration

The men and women of CBP are responsible for enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws and regulations. On a typical day, CBP welcomes nearly 1 million visitors, screens more than 67,000 cargo containers, arrests more than 1,100 individuals, and seizes nearly 6 tons of illicit drugs.

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Justice

The mission of the U.S. Department of Justice is to enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law such as:

  • Ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans
  • Ensure public safety against threats foreign and domestic
  • Provide federal leadership in preventing and controlling crime
  • Seek just punishment for those guilty of unlawful behavior

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration

The mission of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is to enforce the controlled substances laws and regulations of the United States and bring to the criminal and civil justice system of the United States, or any other competent jurisdiction, those organizations and principal members of organizations, involved in the growing, manufacture, or distribution of controlled substances appearing in or destined for illicit traffic in the United States, and to recommend and support non-enforcement programs aimed at reducing the availability of illicit controlled substances on the domestic and international markets.

U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation

U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation

The mission of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is to help protect you, your children, your communities, and your businesses from the most dangerous threats facing our nation-from international and domestic terrorists to spies on U.S. soil from:

  • Child predators to serial killers
  • Cyber villains to corrupt government officials
  • Mobsters to violent street gangs

Along the way, we help defend and uphold our nation’s economy, physical and electronic infrastructure, and democracy. Learn more about how we have evolved into a more proactive, threat-driven security agency in recent years.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Law enforcement is essential to virtually every aspect of wildlife conservation. The Office of Law Enforcement contributes to Service efforts to:

  • Combat invasive species
  • Conserve migratory birds
  • Manage ecosystems
  • Preserve wildlife habitat
  • Promote international wildlife conservation
  • Restore fisheries
  • Save endangered species

Service law enforcement today focuses on potentially devastating threats to wildlife resources - illegal trade, unlawful commercial exploitation, habitat destruction, and environmental contaminants. The Office of Law Enforcement investigates wildlife crimes, regulates wildlife trade, helps Americans understand and obey wildlife protection laws, and works in partnership with international, state, and tribal counterparts to conserve wildlife resources.

U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) enforces federal laws governing border control, customs, trade and immigration to promote homeland security and public safety. ICE was created in 2003 through a merger of the investigative and interior enforcement elements of the former U.S. Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service. ICE now has more than 20,000 employees in more than 400 offices in the United States and 48 foreign countries. The agency has an annual budget of approximately $6 billion, primarily devoted to two operational directorates - Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). A third directorate, Management, and Administration (M and A) are charged with providing professional management and mission support to advance the ICE mission.

U.S. Marshals Service

U.S. Marshals Service

The U.S. Marshals Service is the nation’s oldest and most versatile federal law enforcement agency. Federal marshals have served the country since 1789, often in unseen but critical ways. The Marshals Service occupies a uniquely central position in the federal justice system. It is the enforcement arm of the federal courts, involved in virtually every federal law enforcement initiative. 

Duties

The duties of the U.S. Marshals Service include protecting the federal judiciary, apprehending federal fugitives, managing and selling seized assets acquired by criminals through illegal activities, housing and transporting federal prisoners and operating the Witness Security Program. The agency’s headquarters is just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.

U.S. Postal Inspection Service

U.S. Postal Inspection Service

The mission of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service is to support and protect the U.S. Postal Service and its employees, infrastructure, and customers; enforce the laws that defend the nation’s mail system from illegal or dangerous use; and ensure public trust in the mail. 

As one of our country’s oldest federal law enforcement agencies, founded by Benjamin Franklin, we have a proud and successful history of fighting criminals who attack the nation’s postal system and misuse it to defraud, endanger, or otherwise threaten the American public. As the federal law enforcement, crime prevention, and security arm of the Postal Service, our goal is to ensure confidence in the U.S. Mail. We work to assure that American businesses can safely dispatch funds, securities, and information through the U.S. Mail; that postal customers can entrust their correspondence to the mail, and those postal employees can work in a safe environment.

U.S. Secret Service

U.S. Secret Service

The United States Secret Service is a federal law enforcement agency with headquarters in Washington, D.C, and more than 150 offices throughout the United States and abroad. The Secret Service was established in 1865, solely to suppress the counterfeiting of U.S. currency. 

Mission & Vision

Today, the agency is mandated by Congress to carry out dual missions: protection of national and visiting foreign leaders, and criminal investigations. The vision of the United States Secret Service is to uphold the tradition of excellence in its investigative and protective mission through a dedicated, highly-trained, diverse, partner-oriented workforce that employs progressive technology and promotes professionalism. The mission of the United States Secret Service is to safeguard the nation’s financial infrastructure and payment systems to preserve the integrity of the economy, and to protect national leaders, visiting heads of state and government, designated sites and National Special Security Events.