Police Jurisdiction

Federal policing agencies, like the BI, have only begun to proliferate at this point in time, and, given the very state-based nature of police powers in this time period, are fairly limited in terms of jurisdiction. The Treasury Department is tasked with investigations into counterfeiting only, though it can obviously gather any evidence concerning suspected counterfeiters, which can be used in court. Specific divisions within the Treasury Department, consisting of a very small force, are tasked with investigations into narcotics.

The Bureau of Investigation, begun in 1909 as an enforcement arm of the Justice Department (until that point with no police powers of its own and therefore entirely reliant on other branches of government), carries an interesting mixed bag of capabilities. As a wing of the Department of Justice, the BI has enormous capabilities looking into political corruption, though mostly of a federal nature, which has been largely untapped at this point. It also investigates extra-state crimes, such as those committed on Indian Reservations. The Mann Act, passed in 1910, first gave the BI any appreciable powers. Meant to address prostitution, a highly local and difficult to enforce crime, the law makes illegal the transport of women across state lines for "immoral purposes", the language rooted in popular fears over white slavery and a reported but largely overestimated nationwide traffic in women. As prostitution, particularly that to which the Mann act applies, requires a fairly sophisticated network, this is the first time the BI comes into contact, and conflict, with organized crime as we understand it.

However, by the advent of the Great War, the BI took on responsibilities as a spy agency, meant to combat surreptitious alliances between the German Empire, Mexico, and subversives at home. The legal basis for their new powers were found in the Alien and Sedition Acts, wartime acts severely limiting free speech and immigration. It found success and political capital in this work, and so largely concentrated on it, even after the war. Most of the BI’s activity up to now has been investigating and prosecuting “radical” groups, including anarchists, communists, and other political dissidents. This also includes unions, most notably during the nationwide Railroad Strike of 1922. Though officially limited to corruption, Indian Reservations, the Mann Act, and radicals, the BI’s jurisdiction is fairly flexible, as long as the crime has implications beyond any one state. Consequently, they have a considerable amount of information and interest in organized criminal groups in their regions, concentrated in the regional offices.

The Prohibition Department was created in 1919 with the passage of the Volstead Act, the law by which the 18th Amendment is enforced. Chronically understaffed and underpaid, the Prohibition Department has become notorious for their numerous violations of civil rights and jurisprudence, not to mention corruption. Agents are tasked with enforcing alcohol prohibition, the largest, richest, and farthest reaching criminal activity in the country. They lack the manpower of both the Treasury and the BI, along with the oversight, and are thus open to greater temptation and greater rewards when given in to. As such, they now carry this reputation across the country, and are generally looked down upon in the law enforcement community.

Customs police, nominally a federal agency, are alike both forms of police powers. They operate in local areas, usually determined by state, and only concerning border crimes, either in the form of smuggling or illegal entry. They have federal authority, but are limited to place and time in a way no other group is, lacking the resources to conduct large-scale investigations and unable to mount effective force once the crime has actually taken place. They do have their successes, though, largely in the form of massive seizures of contraband such as alcohol, but they must work closely with other police agencies to get much done.

The only important distinction between local and state police at this time is who investigates what, a distinction entirely dependent on where crimes take place. Local police investigate crimes taking place within their municipality, but not those taking place outside it. This often leads to interesting jurisdictional disputes related to bodies found within a few feet of city or town limits, or crimes taking place over multiple locations. Often, when a criminal group is working statewide, the state police take over the investigation, at least as far as rural connections go, while local police stick to single-instance crimes (murders, thefts) or groups operating within their area.

Military police handle crimes occurring on military property or of an international nature. They operate by an entirely different set of laws, usually harsher, and playing by their rules is a method used to secure political trials and enforce harsher punishments, both today and in the past.

Obviously, there’s a lot of grey areas here. Jurisdiction is largely a tool used by police agencies to shift responsibility, either taking it from someone else, or attempting to force it upon them. However, it also means that multiple agencies could be conducting multiple investigations into one person or group at any given time, working together or separately. Most agencies try to share information, unless they suspect the other agency to be a problem, complicit, or “leaky”. Most suspect the other agencies to be any or all of those three. Often, a district or general attorney will have to compel these agencies to share. Additionally, it all tends to go downhill, largely due to the weight of federal authority and experience. The Treasury carries the most weight in terms of forcing cooperation, being the oldest federal authority, existent since the 1860s. After that, the BI, as a federal agency, carries political capital and weight. Supposedly, the Prohibition Department would go next, but they’re so tainted by corruption and abuses in their short history, not to mention a general unpopularity with the laws they enforce, that they don’t carry much weight beyond their jurisdiction. Though not tainted by corruption, the Customs Department is similarly limited just by nature of their regional bonds. Then down to state police, with local police at the bottom of the rung. That being said, local police investigate the most crimes, as well as the most varied, and generally have small task forces or divisions dedicated to the particular crimes investigated by other agencies. They’re an excellent resource, and any federal officer worthy of his badge would be remiss not to cultivate contacts amongst them.