According to an article entitled "FBI Agents Say Rivals Encroach on Their Turf" the Wall Street Journal reports, "In the past year, 61% of the FBI's field offices have run into 'severe' or 'moderate' conflicts with other federal law-enforcement agencies, according to an internal (FBI) survey." State and local law-enforcement agencies are persuaded that other federal agencies "are attempting to.....usurp the FBI's role in ongoing investigations" according to an internal FBI memo. And most FBI special agents have experienced "mission creep" as a result of encroachment by other federal police. But the FBI survey reflects the alarm of agents only, not the concerns of FBI leadership, according to an agency spokesperson.
It is notable that overlapping police jurisdictions are a defining characteristic of totalitarianism. Overlap makes authority arbitrary and bureaucratic. It has the effect of atomizing (Hannah Arendt's word) humanity. This makes a policeman no more secure in his authority, purpose, jurisdiction, employment, and safety, no more certain of his certitude in execution, than is a lay person in her identity or innocence. Everything, (ie. authority, identity, security) is an arbitrary grant in a totalitarian state--and subject to arbitrary seizure.
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