When I first started working on fanfics, I went, being the obsessive type, to the library and websites to find out as much as I could about the FBI and how they work... including what sorts of cases they have jurisdiction over.

What I found was that the serial murders, the kidnappings, the terrorist threats... are really not that high of a percentage. It does depend on the division or unit you work with, of course, but "slow time" is filled with far more than just paperwork.

If you remember "Greed," that was a case of fraud, which the FBI does handle, since such crimes are a violation of the Securities & Exchange Laws (federal), or RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) statutes. But it wasn't exactly a barn-burner until witnesses started showing up dead. It was just a LOT of digging through reams and reams of paper.

Even a single murder in DC wouldn't be FBI jurisdiction, unless there was something else involved - a bank robbery, for example. DC has a city police department.

All this is available on the FBI's website (www.fbi.gov), but I thought I'd just stick up a list here of the areas covered by FBI jurisdiction:

1. Kidnapping - it's now assumed, particularly in the case of children, that a kidnapping automatically crosses state lines, making it a federal crime and FBI jurisdiction. (Do some reading on the Lindbergh baby case if you want to understand why that law was enacted) Mostly it's a matter of TIME - which is short when it comes to such cases. But if a kidnapping victim is found dead, the case reverts to local police, as it is now a homicide.

2. Bank Robberies - Federal institutions, Federal jurisdiction.

3. Crimes on Indian Lands - Again, falls under Federal jurisdiction, so a murder on Indian lands would be FBI-covered... or any other major crimes there.

I'll add some more as we go along... there are a lot of "quieter" things that take up much of Agents' time...

Nice to see you've started this thread.

I can relate to your problem... :blink:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought I read that a murder in a federal institution (Say someone popped an IRS employee or a Politician) is also FBI-jurisdiction.....

Originally, CounterIntelligence was also FBI (in the 70's, maybe still is). Together with Organised Crime and White Collar.

Thanks for posting this, it's really helpful :)

A few more: (Sorry, you got me started....LOL)

Cyber-crimes: Piracy/Intellectual Property, people spreading a (or multiple) computer-virus, Child Pornography, fighting hackers, spammers. Anything computer related that causes damage, involves fraud, or is aimed in any way to do harm is investigated. Teams of FBI computer experts have been known to be flown into a country to help catch online perps and hackers. Each and every 56 Field Offices hosts a Cyber-branch.

Corruption: Public corruption is one of the FBI’s top investigative priorities—behind only terrorism, espionage, and cyber crimes. It can vary from cops taking bribes, vote-buying by politicians, tampering election outcomes (rigging Voting Machines, Registration Fraud etc.). Civil-servants fraudulantly issuing drivers licenses, cops giving away information about Confidential Informants in return for something.

Civil Rights: Can cover a vast area, but comes down to things like Hate Crimes, Human Trafficking. Law Abuse that ranges from doctoring evidence of fabricating it, false arrests (all Fourth Amendment), sexual assault excessive force etc. Also: officers willingly neglecting to keep communities or individuals safe from harm

And: Every action that interferes with people's ability to obtain or provide Reproductive Health Care Services (i.e. Abortion Clinics e.g.). Property damage, hatemail, arson, murder, burglaries and disturbing phonecalls are considered a Federal Crime under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. The FBI investigates, or provides back-up for local Law Enforcement.

Um... I don't have the documentation to back me up on this, but I'm sure I probably could find it somewhere. Living in Red Man's land, I felt I had to say something. Most Indian Reservations are not federally owned. They are the property of the tribe and have their own government. White man has no say so over the happenings on their lands. Thus the reason most reservations here in Oklahoma had casinos long before they were made legal in the state. Also why they do not have to pay taxes on cigarettes and stuff.

I believe if something happens on a Reservation and then goes outside (like a kidnapping and murder) then they can come on the reservation. And most tribes' police forces are willing to work with the US government when an issue arises.

Again, I could be wrong, but I've never heard of the FBI coming to one of the Reservations here.

Correct on both counts, nedfan - I apologize for the oversight there. I started the thread about the time we were headed out the door, so I only posted a few.

Thank you for your help!

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In researching one story in particular, I also learned that the FBI is the enforcement agency for the Environmental Protection Agency. At any given time, there are more than 400 open EPA cases on the FBI's collective desk - most of them being Clean Water Act violations.

The FBI has jurisdiction on crimes taking place on the high seas - including Cruise Ships.

Major Crimes is another areas the FBI covers, namely:

Art Theft - Art and cultural property crime - which includes theft, fraud, looting, and trafficking across state and international lines

Cargo theft - Cargo thieves heist whole truck loads of merchandise—the average freight on a trailer is valued between $12,000 and $3 million. The hotspots are where you might expect—truck yards, hubs for commercial freight carriers, and port cities.

To fight the problem, seven cargo theft task forces, made up of FBI agents and local law enforcement, operate in six cities: Memphis, Houston, Newark, New York, San Juan, and Miami, which has two. Investigations are aimed at toppling whole operations.

Jewelry and gem theft - You might ask, why is the FBI involved? For three good reasons:

1. The thefts usually cross state…and even national…boundaries—so they need a federal agency with offices across the nation and overseas to investigate these highly mobile jewelry thieves.

2. Increasingly, they are committed by organized criminal enterprises or “theft groups”—that likewise require a federal agency with tough laws and with offices across the U.S. and overseas to bust.

3. These theft groups are often involved in other kinds of organized crime activities that are already under scrutiny by FBI investigators.

Retail Theft

Vehicle Theft

All these can involve hijacking, which usually crosses state lines.

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More coming!

I think you're right, Okie... my bad. I looked at the actual page and realized my mistake. There are several other links on the page, but here's the overview:

www.fbi.gov

Which just goes to show you there's always more research to be done... :P

What about multiple murders such as with a serial killer? Do those fall under FBI jurisdiction?

Any crime which crosses state lines comes under FBI jurisdiction.

But local police will often ask for assistance from both FBI crime labs and other support systems (like the Behavioral Analysis Unit, which has a newer name than that which I can't recall right now, but it's the profilers).

I made mention earlier of the Lindbergh Baby case... that case changed the way child kidnappings in particular are handled. I'll see if I can find a link or a quote about it.

Thanks for the info. I'm working on a story with this story line so this info is very timely.

Thanks for all the info, SAM 3-3. I would think that anyone who is trying to come up with a good storyline can find this very useful. :flower:

Lindbergh Kidnapping: the Background:

FBI Famous Cases: Lindbergh Kidnapping

Side Note: Though the case did not seem to have any grounds for federal involvement (kidnapping then being classified as a local crime), Hoover bent the rules for the enormously popular Lindbergh, and declared that he would "move Heaven and Earth" to recover the missing child.

The tragic outcome, and the overall complexity of this case led to what is known as the Lindbergh Law

The abduction and murder of Charles Lindbergh's toddler son prompted the United States Congress to adopt a federal kidnapping statute—popularly known as the Federal Kidnapping Act 18 USC § 1201(a)(1)— which was intended to let federal authorities step in and pursue kidnappers once they had crossed a state border with their victim.

The theory behind the Lindbergh Law was that federal law enforcement intervention was needed because state and local law enforcement officers could not effectively pursue kidnappers across state borders; since federal law enforcement officers, such as FBI agents, have national enforcement authority, Congress believed they could do a much more effective job of dealing with kidnappings than could state and local authorities.

Several states implemented their own versions of this law, known as "Little Lindbergh" laws, covering acts of kidnapping that did not cross state lines. In some states, if the victim were physically harmed in any manner, the crime qualified for the death penalty. This was what occurred in the Caryl Chessman case in California. Following the death penalty law revisions by the United States Supreme Court during the 1970's, kidnapping alone no longer constitutes a capital offense.

A provision of the law provides exception for parents who abduct their minor children.

A good example of the aforementioned exception could be Betty Mahmoody: the American who in 1984 'abducted' her child to escape from her Iranian husband who kept them grounded in Iran, whilst pretending to have gone there for a holiday.

Her chilling story -which was published as a book, and later a motion picture- is best known as "Not Without My Daughter".

Side Info:

Caryl Chessman case: Caryl Chessman was indicted under the "Little Lindberg" Law in California in 1948; although he was a notorious serial robber, rapist what made him receive the Death Penalty was the strict interpretation of the 'Kidnap' phrase in the Little Lindbergh Law (and thus following the ultimate punishment): In one of his 'hit-rob-rape-and-run' schemes he had dragged a young woman out of her car for a couple of feet before raping her.

And act, the Court concluded, that had to interpreted as Kidnapping. Appeals by Chessman were dismissed. His attempt to change his fate through an appeal on the Writ of Habeas Corpus (fully: Habeas Corpus ad Subjiciendum) failed too.

Under the Habeas Corpus ad Subjiciendum (a court order) a prisoner can be brought before a court to determine whether that prisoner is serving a lawful, or appropriate, sentence i.e. whether his punishment is justifiable in relation to his committed crime (in which in this case, Kidnapping, according to Chessman, did not cover dragging someone for a mere few feet).

Chessman was executed on May 2nd 1960 in San Quentin Prison.

Following this case, states altered their legislation, softening the terms.

Thanks, nedfan. I know I fell behind a little this weekend... lots going on. There's more FBI jurisdiction we haven't gotten up here yet, but I'll try to finish it out this week...

SAM 3-3, really, I cannot thank you enough for posting all this information. It really is helpful when it comes to deciding what cases the FBI can really handle. :D