Do FBI and local police get along?

Question

does the FBI get along with smaller, local/state police departments in america? or do they butt heads, because of the federal vs. state jursidiction

Answer 1

reality no, but there getting a lot better since 9-11. before that the agency's where reluctant on helping each other on information sharing. the FBI was arrogant stating that most records they had were confidintial information, while the police basically did the same out of reversed egotism. today police and FBI are more active but only because of the countries needs. but they both still have that unwelcomed atmosphere in the air.

Answer 2

As I recall back in the day, whenever we encountered FBI personnel we were impressed by how clean and well manicured their fingernails were.  They were also very good at fixing broken staplers and paper jams in Xerox machines.  Other than that we just told them to get out of the way until the smoke cleared.

Answer 3

It really varies from locality to locality and depends largely on the personalities involved.

There are some federal agents (and I am going to expand the question to cover all federal agencies, because ICE, ATF, Postal Inspectors, and DEA are as likely to interact with local law enforcement as the FBI) tend to try to throw their weight around.  There are some local sheriffs and chiefs of police who are extremely territorial about controlling what goes on in their jurisdiction.

On the other hand, there are federal agents who understand that in all likelihood the case will end up being tried in state courts and so they need to work with local agencies to do it the way that the local judges and prosecutors want it done.  There are local sheriffs and chiefs of police who are happy to get any federal assistance that they can get -- especially those along the interstate who really have to deal with a lot of crime that extends beyond their jurisdiction.

In short, the tension between the federal agencies and state and local law enforcement is similar to the tension between state law enforcement and local law enforcement and the relation between county law enforcement and city law enforcement.  Everyone has slightly different jobs to do and slightly different authority.  If the people involved in a particular operation are level-headed and appreciate that fact, everything tends to go fine.  If the people involved are self-centered and care more about who is running the show than in getting results, you tend to have a lot of yelling, screaming, and chest-thumping and very little in terms of results.

Using rough estimates, in my jurisdiction, I would say that 90-95% of the time, the feds and the locals get along fine.

Answer 4

In smaller cities the Fed's act like they are king sh-t and everyone else is stupid. In larger cities they that most of the city or county P.D. guys know there stuff and the FBI seems to just look pretty all the time. Fancy suits, watches, etc. Even clean cars. I don't think they grind it out like the rest but they get the job done....or do they?

Answer 5

They don't get along to good in the movies, but in real life they work hand in hand= they really need each other, almost as we need them==Like the fire department== and Paramedics butt heads== and they do all this so we can feel safe== so if they butt heads, they do it off duty, and would stop in the middle to catch a bad guy or put out a fire== All brothers, and they know it== and all of them have helmet's, so it wouldn't hurt that much=

Answer 6

That can vary from place to place.  Where I worked in OH, they got along and worked well together but I've heard of some cases where there has been conflict and that usually has to do with a bad attitude on someone's part.  

Like anything in life, it depends a lot on whether someone goes in with a domineering attitude and gets everything off on the wrong foot ~ from that point on, there will always be a bit of conflict until the domineering person is out of the picture.