How Many Cops Does the Federal Government Need?
Answer: lots.
Aside from the FBI and the rest of the Departments of Justice, Treasury, and Defense -- all of which maintain police forces as a part of their law enforcement duties -- there are 25,000 other uniformed, armed cops working for federal agencies.
Today, for many people, the knock on the door is increasingly likely to come from a dizzying array of other police forces tucked away inside lesser-known crime-fighting agencies.
They could be from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Labor or Education departments, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the agency known for its weather forecasts.
Agents from NOAA, in fact, along with the Fish and Wildlife Service, raided the Miami business of Morgan Mok in 2008, seeking evidence she had broken the Endangered Species Act trading in coral.
The agents had assault rifles with them, and the case documents indicated her house and business records had been under surveillance over a six-month period, says Ms. Mok. Under the 1973 law, the departments of Interior and Commerce (home to NOAA) must write regulations to define what is endangered and how it must be protected. One of those regulations specifies coral.
"I felt like I was being busted for drugs, instead of coral," Ms. Mok says. "It was crazy."
Of course, that's the result of pretty much criminalizing every congressional act:
Often, Congress makes it a criminal offense to violate any part of a law it passes—including these regulations. As a result, as more criminal laws are passed, the number of regulations that can ensnare people grows as well.
It is hard to pin down precisely how many regulations could result in criminal penalties. Of dozens of federal agencies contacted by The Wall Street Journal, none could say how many of their regulations were connected to criminal statutes. Legal experts have put this number at anywhere between 10,000 and 300,000.
In 1970, the Code of Federal Regulations had 54,000 pages. Today it runs to 165,000 pages and takes 27 feet of shelf space when printed and bound.
That's a lot of pages. That's a lot of rules. So that requires a lot of cops, and investigators, and uniforms to enforce.
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Dec '11
Re: How Many Cops Does the Federal Government Need?
The Capitol Hill police force has 1,800 cops to protect 10,000 congressmen and their staff. That's 180 cops per 1,000 population. The average in the rest of the country is 2 cops per 1,000 population.
Jun '10
Re: How Many Cops Does the Federal Government Need?
A simple way to take care of the problem of over regulation would be to hold congress people responsible for following the laws they pass for the rest of us. No exemptions. If they can't operate within the laws they pass, they shouldn't pass those laws to begin with.
Jun '10
Re: How Many Cops Does the Federal Government Need?
But these are largely patronage slots: a jobs for yobs program.
Jun '10
Re: How Many Cops Does the Federal Government Need?
The real problem, deserving a post that I don't have time to write today, is that eventually government rules and regulations, along with their enforcement mechanisms, reach a critical mass resulting in absurd levels of government capriciousness: government as farce.
Apr '11
Re: How Many Cops Does the Federal Government Need?
Do not talk with Federal Police Officers without your lawyer present - Ever
They will entrap you.
http://www.coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/2011/12/shut-up.html
Aug '10
Re: How Many Cops Does the Federal Government Need?
Just another sign post on the road to oblivion for our country.
This is another example of why - on a certain level - it's laughable to wring our hands about whether we nominate Mitt or Newt or Ron or Paul Ryan or Mitch Daniels. No one can turn back the tide of our leviathan government - no one
Mar '11
Re: How Many Cops Does the Federal Government Need?
~Paules
But these are largely patronage slots: a jobs for yobs program. · Dec 23 at 11:11am
Oh. That's all right then.
Oct '10
Re: How Many Cops Does the Federal Government Need?
Here is a breakdown of pistol packing feds by agency that I posted in 2007, based on 2004 data (the most recent at the time of the posting).
Jul '10
Re: How Many Cops Does the Federal Government Need?
Exactly. Take the incandescent light bulb ban for instance. They didn't repeal the law, but simply will not fund the execution of the law. If the federal government does this enough in every practical area of Our Lives, it's conceivable that one day they'll decide to fund the execution of all the laws on the books making most Citizens guilty of breaking at least one.
The only safe route may be to become one of them.
Oct '10
Re: How Many Cops Does the Federal Government Need?
Where there are many laws, you can be found guilty any time it's necessary.
Soon, the feral leviathan will need to start building massive psychiatric hospitals for the re-education of us offenders.
And just think of all the new jobs that will be created to man the guard towers... oh, wait, they won't need no stinkin' guard towers. There will be no place left to escape to.
Jul '10
Re: How Many Cops Does the Federal Government Need?
I don't know about that. The Capitol Police recruit pretty heavily in the armed forces. It's mostly viewed as a stepping-stone to other federal law-enforcement jobs in the FBI or Secret Service (the Border Patrol often sells itself in much the same way).
The thing to remember about the uniformed police divisions of most federal agencies is that they are for the most part glorified security guards. 25,000 seems like a lot of cops (though significantly less than the NYPD), until you realize that they are spread all over the country, and generally have jurisdiction only over the property of their agency. You're not likely to get a knock on the door from the GSA police.
May '10
Re: How Many Cops Does the Federal Government Need?
Knock, knock!
Apr '11
Re: How Many Cops Does the Federal Government Need?
NormD: Do not talk with Federal Police Officers without your lawyer present - Ever
They will entrap you.
http://www.coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/2011/12/shut-up.html · Dec 23 at 11:54am
This is true of all policemen, everywhere. My crim law profs in my JD (US) and my LLB (UK) both felt this to be the most important lesson they could impart, and lawyers from a number of other countries have confirmed to me that this is a near universal lesson. The instinct to be helpful is incredibly powerful, and it is very easy to misspeak in a way that becomes a problem for you or for others.
While the federal bureaucrats and cops I have known have generally been great people with good intentions and important roles to play.... it's still worth having an attorney there. Once you're lawyered up, and reminding yourself strongly not to overstate your confidence in your memory, not to guess about things that you unsure of without the strongest of disclaimers, and not to assume you know why things are being asked, you should be as helpful as you can.
Jan '11
Re: How Many Cops Does the Federal Government Need?
Next thing you know, they'll be generating revenue with taxes on things like stamps, tea ... hey ... wait just a minute ... !
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(And praise to EJ, for once again making me laugh!)
Sep '10
Re: How Many Cops Does the Federal Government Need?
"the departments...must write regulations..."
a big part of the problem.
As for the Endangered Species Act, check out the episode of Penn and Teller's B.S. on that. (Available on youtube).
Aug '10
Re: How Many Cops Does the Federal Government Need?
This is just one of the questions ( read litmus tests) that we should be foisting on our candidates as they do their dance in the primaries.
Re: How Many Cops Does the Federal Government Need?
Yes, I once interviewed the head of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and all I wanted to know was why they had so many armed agents for an office dealing with a voluntary tax code. And when they used their weapons. And why and how. They thought it was weird that I was so interested in their law enforcement capabilities.
Re: How Many Cops Does the Federal Government Need?
And who has two thumbs and been arrested by these guys? Possibly more than once? This girl.
Even spent a night in their clinker. Good times. Good times.
Edited on Dec 23, 2011 at 6:29pmJul '10
Re: How Many Cops Does the Federal Government Need?
Relax, this is America, everyone is guilty of something. So we need many police forces to keep you criminals in line.
My personal favorites are the Department of Agriculture Police. They write the best motor vehicle accident reports.
Apr '11
Re: How Many Cops Does the Federal Government Need?
NormD: Do not talk with Federal Police Officers without your lawyer present - Ever
They will entrap you.
Yes, Never, ever, ever, ever, ever talk to the cops. Even if what you say is true and exculpatory, it can still get you convicted. When the cops say, "Anything you say can be used against you", they leave out the fact that anything you say that helps you is inadmissible. What you say can only hurt you. Say nothing. Let your lawyer talk.
Believe it or not, it's perfectly legal for cops to lie to you. It's a felony if you lie to them. They are expertly trained to trick you into self-incrimination. You can't beat trained experts, so just shut up.
Courts have ruled that if you cooperate with the cops, even just a little, you waive all your constitutional protections against self-incrimination. You can't tell them a little, and then shut up later.
The mantra: "I want to speak to a lawyer. I do not consent to any searches. I choose to remain silent."
Edited on Dec 23, 2011 at 8:09pm