Law Enforcement Coordination: DOJ Could Improve Its Process for Identifying Disagreements among Agents
GAO-11-314
Published: Apr 07, 2011. Publicly Released: May 09, 2011.
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Highlights
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), an estimated 1.3 million violent crimes occurred nationwide in 2009. The Department of Justice (DOJ) law enforcement components--the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Drug Enforcement Administration; FBI, and U.S. Marshals Service--have overlapping jurisdiction over violent crime investigations, specifically when they involve illegal drugs, gang violence, firearms, explosives, arson, and fugitive apprehension. As requested, GAO assessed the extent to which selected agents are clear on their agencies' roles and responsibilities, and how components determine and coordinate roles and responsibilities to avoid unnecessary use of resources. GAO reviewed documents such as department directives and interviewed DOJ component officials in headquarters and nine cities, which were selected based on population and the presence of all DOJ components. GAO also surveyed a randomly selected, nongeneralizable sample of 315 field agents. The results provide valuable information about the range of perspectives of surveyed agents.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Drug Enforcement Administration | The Attorney General, the ATF Director, the DEA Administrator, the FBI Director, and the Director of USMS should assess the feasibility of options they could take to better determine the extent to which agents are clear on their roles and responsibilities and have experienced disagreements with other components in areas of shared jurisdiction. Actions taken from such an assessment could provide the data necessary to determine why disagreements are occurring and whether and how they could improve clarity, avoid negative impacts on investigations, and enhance the working relationships among components. |
In its 60-day letter, dated July 7, 2011, DOJ identified several actions that it would take in response to our recommendation. DOJ stated that it would hold periodic meetings during 2011 and 2012 among its four law enforcement components (FBI, ATF, DEA, and USMS) to 1) identify agent-level agreements, 2) determine how disagreements were resolved, and 3) improve information-sharing across the components. In August 2012, DOJ informed us that these meetings had taken place and resulted in a draft briefing paper that was submitted to the Deputy Attorney General for review. However, DOJ did not provide a copy of this briefing paper for our review. DOJ also stated that it planned to expand its use of DEA's Special Operations Division (SOD) to act as a deconfliction center for all four law enforcement components as well as state and local partners. We contacted DOJ several times in 2014 and 2015 to request documentation of the actions the department and components had reportedly taken to implement our recommendation. However, DOJ officials did not respond to our inquiries nor did they provide any relevant documentation. Therefore, we are closing this recommendation as not implemented.
|
| Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives | The Attorney General, the ATF Director, the DEA Administrator, the FBI Director, and the Director of USMS should assess the feasibility of options they could take to better determine the extent to which agents are clear on their roles and responsibilities and have experienced disagreements with other components in areas of shared jurisdiction. Actions taken from such an assessment could provide the data necessary to determine why disagreements are occurring and whether and how they could improve clarity, avoid negative impacts on investigations, and enhance the working relationships among components. |
In its 60-day letter, dated July 7, 2011, DOJ identified several actions that it would take in response to our recommendation. DOJ stated that it would hold periodic meetings during 2011 and 2012 among its four law enforcement components (FBI, ATF, DEA, and USMS) to 1) identify agent-level agreements, 2) determine how disagreements were resolved, and 3) improve information-sharing across the components. In August 2012, DOJ informed us that these meetings had taken place and resulted in a draft briefing paper that was submitted to the Deputy Attorney General for review. However, DOJ did not provide a copy of this briefing paper for our review. DOJ also stated that it planned to expand its use of DEA's Special Operations Division (SOD) to act as a deconfliction center for all four law enforcement components as well as state and local partners. We contacted DOJ several times in 2014 and 2015 to request documentation of the actions the department and components had reportedly taken to implement our recommendation. However, DOJ officials did not respond to our inquiries nor did they provide any relevant documentation. Therefore, we are closing this recommendation as not implemented.
|
| Department of Justice | The Attorney General, the ATF Director, the DEA Administrator, the FBI Director, and the Director of USMS should assess the feasibility of options they could take to better determine the extent to which agents are clear on their roles and responsibilities and have experienced disagreements with other components in areas of shared jurisdiction. Actions taken from such an assessment could provide the data necessary to determine why disagreements are occurring and whether and how they could improve clarity, avoid negative impacts on investigations, and enhance the working relationships among components. |
In its 60-day letter, dated July 7, 2011, DOJ identified several actions that it would take in response to our recommendation. DOJ stated that it would hold periodic meetings during 2011 and 2012 among its four law enforcement components (FBI, ATF, DEA, and USMS) to 1) identify agent-level agreements, 2) determine how disagreements were resolved, and 3) improve information-sharing across the components. In August 2012, DOJ informed us that these meetings had taken place and resulted in a draft briefing paper that was submitted to the Deputy Attorney General for review. However, DOJ did not provide a copy of this briefing paper for our review. DOJ also stated that it planned to expand its use of DEA's Special Operations Division (SOD) to act as a deconfliction center for all four law enforcement components as well as state and local partners. We contacted DOJ several times in 2014 and 2015 to request documentation of the actions the department and components had reportedly taken to implement our recommendation. However, DOJ officials did not respond to our inquiries nor did they provide any relevant documentation. Therefore, we are closing this recommendation as not implemented.
|
| Federal Bureau of Investigation | The Attorney General, the ATF Director, the DEA Administrator, the FBI Director, and the Director of USMS should assess the feasibility of options they could take to better determine the extent to which agents are clear on their roles and responsibilities and have experienced disagreements with other components in areas of shared jurisdiction. Actions taken from such an assessment could provide the data necessary to determine why disagreements are occurring and whether and how they could improve clarity, avoid negative impacts on investigations, and enhance the working relationships among components. |
In its 60-day letter, dated July 7, 2011, DOJ identified several actions that it would take in response to our recommendation. DOJ stated that it would hold periodic meetings during 2011 and 2012 among its four law enforcement components (FBI, ATF, DEA, and USMS) to 1) identify agent-level agreements, 2) determine how disagreements were resolved, and 3) improve information-sharing across the components. In August 2012, DOJ informed us that these meetings had taken place and resulted in a draft briefing paper that was submitted to the Deputy Attorney General for review. However, DOJ did not provide a copy of this briefing paper for our review. DOJ also stated that it planned to expand its use of DEA's Special Operations Division (SOD) to act as a deconfliction center for all four law enforcement components as well as state and local partners. We contacted DOJ several times in 2014 and 2015 to request documentation of the actions the department and components had reportedly taken to implement our recommendation. However, DOJ officials did not respond to our inquiries nor did they provide any relevant documentation. Therefore, we are closing this recommendation as not implemented.
|
| United States Marshals Service | The Attorney General, the ATF Director, the DEA Administrator, the FBI Director, and the Director of USMS should assess the feasibility of options they could take to better determine the extent to which agents are clear on their roles and responsibilities and have experienced disagreements with other components in areas of shared jurisdiction. Actions taken from such an assessment could provide the data necessary to determine why disagreements are occurring and whether and how they could improve clarity, avoid negative impacts on investigations, and enhance the working relationships among components. |
In its 60-day letter, dated July 7, 2011, DOJ identified several actions that it would take in response to our recommendation. DOJ stated that it would hold periodic meetings during 2011 and 2012 among its four law enforcement components (FBI, ATF, DEA, and USMS) to 1) identify agent-level agreements, 2) determine how disagreements were resolved, and 3) improve information-sharing across the components. In August 2012, DOJ informed us that these meetings had taken place and resulted in a draft briefing paper that was submitted to the Deputy Attorney General for review. However, DOJ did not provide a copy of this briefing paper for our review. DOJ also stated that it planned to expand its use of DEA's Special Operations Division (SOD) to act as a deconfliction center for all four law enforcement components as well as state and local partners. We contacted DOJ several times in 2014 and 2015 to request documentation of the actions the department and components had reportedly taken to implement our recommendation. However, DOJ officials did not respond to our inquiries nor did they provide any relevant documentation. Therefore, we are closing this recommendation as not implemented.
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