in
NYC. Pictured:
USSS,
DSS and
ATF Federal law enforcement in the United States is more than two hundred years old. For example, the
Postal Inspection Service can trace its origins back to 1772, while the
U.S. Marshals Service dates to 1789. Other agencies, such as the
FBI, are relatively recent, being founded in the early twentieth century. Other agencies have been reformed, such as the
ATF which was formed only in 1972, but had its origins in 1886. Some federal law enforcement agencies have been formed after mergers of other agencies, over the years. This includes the
CBP, ATF, and the
DEA. In 1794, the first known federal law enforcement officer
line-of-duty death occurred;
Robert Forsyth,
United States Marshal for the
District of Georgia, was shot in the head and murdered while attempting to
serve process. Military law enforcement, although federal, consists of both military personnel and civilian officers. For example, "
DoD Police" refers to any civilian engaged in police duties for the
DoD or the
US Armed Forces. Each branch also has a law enforcement agency responsible for the investigation of more serious crimes and incidents, such as the Army’s
Criminal Investigation Division. Different federal law enforcement authorities have authority under different parts of the
United States Code (U.S.C.). Most are limited by the U.S. Code to investigating matters that are explicitly within the power of the federal government. There are exceptions, with some agencies and officials enforcing codes of
U.S. states and
tribes of
Native Americans in the United States. Some federal investigative powers have become broader in practice, especially since the passage of the
Patriot Act in October 2001. The
United States Department of Justice was formerly the largest and is still the most prominent, collection of federal law enforcement agencies. It has handled most law enforcement duties at the federal level and includes the
United States Marshals Service (USMS), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF),
Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), and others. However, the
United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) became the department with the most sworn armed Federal law enforcement officers and agents upon its creation in 2002 in response to the
September 11 attacks when it incorporated agencies seen as having roles in protecting the country against terrorism. This included large agencies such as
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the
U.S. Secret Service (USSS), the
U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), the
Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and the
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) (created by combining the former agencies of the
United States Border Patrol,
United States Customs Service, and the
United States Department of Agriculture's
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) into a single agency within the DHS). ==List of federal law enforcement agencies and units of agencies==