A major plot device in cop shows is one branch of law enforcement looked upon as incompetent by another, or as competition. Of course it depends on which agency the show is
about as to who is a moron. Just wondering if any of this actually takes place in real life. It may make for good entertainment but seems to me it would be counterproductive in catching bad guys.
Of course, happens all the time. Just happened in Ferguson, Mo., where a corrupt prosecutor kept a grand jury from finding that there were sufficient grounds to investigate a cop for murdering an unarmed black man. The Justice Dept. is now investigating the civil rights aspects of the case. I doubt anyone who is not a racist conservative has a high opinion of the prosecutor.
I’m gonna link it: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/JurisdictionFriction
Jurisdiction Friction.
I think for the most part, the trope is pretty played out. It’s either the feds looking like big jerks when they’re taking over the investigation from the local hero or the local cops are incompetent/corrupt and are getting in the way of the hero from the fed agency.
It’s interesting to see when the trope is inverted. I remember in Die Hard 3 where the federal agent said he had kids in one of the targeted schools and his team would help the NYC police. Also in the Wire, the local detectives and the local feds generally got along and helped each other when they could.
I had a really nice reply going then my iPad froze which it has been doing lately.
I’ll just say that it is total bullshit. The scene in season 2 of The Wire when each agency is trying to get the other to do the work is closer to the truth. You want to lighten my caseload? Be my guest.
You’re off-topic in this thread. Go post in any of the umpty-ump other threads on the Ferguson case.
No warning issued.
twickster, Cafe Society moderator
I think it happens but not nearly as much as it used to. Back in the 80s it was pretty bad, particularly at the height of the drug war. There was a lot of competition for funding between the DEA, FBI, Customs, etc…and they would frequently step on each others’ toes. I think that’s when the trope took hold and despite the fact that things have changed in the real world, it’s still stuck that way in the movies and on TV.
Having seens some federal-state-local interactions (not on criminal drug cases but other things); I think most of the time it’s probably ‘you want this? Sure, I got other stuff to do’, with a moderate amount of “Well, we’re pretty invested in this one, why don’t you take that one there?”, and the occasional minor bitching about the feds swooping in and taking credit for things mixed with frank acknowledgements that the feds’ resources really made a difference in some cases, blah, blah.
But you know, good government never makes good stories. It’s boring as heck.
So movies only want to show us the 0.01% of the time where there’s real conflict between agencies.
Brooklyn Nine Nine used this recently: a drug gang was using mailboxes for dead drops, so the NYPD had to enlist the help of the U.S. Postal Investigative Service. It didn’t go well.
Is your operating system current? I had some problems with Safari freezing up (when I backspaced) right after I updated to iOS 8. The next update solved my issue.
Sounds like the place I work. You want to take over this project? Thanks! I’ll attach every file I have to the e-mail I’m sending you right now 
The Perfect Master speaks: Who’s the boss, city cops, state cops, or the Feds? - The Straight Dope
I agree with Quercus. IME law enforcement at different levels can usually put their heads together and figure out who’s best suited to handle a particular investigation, based on time already invested, resources now available, whether Federal or state law has violated, etc. There is occasional jockeying to see who looks better on the TV news.
NM
In my experience RikWriter has it right. In most cases cops cooperate pretty well. In narcotics enforcement not so much. There was the quest for “glory” - who got the biggest seizure or kingpin etc. but, with so much money involved in the drug trade, you could never be sure who might have gone over to the wrong side.
Sometimes the Feds could look pretty bad. The individual guys/gals were ok but the bureaucracy at the federal level can be unbelievable. Sometimes FBI/DEA investigations take years because they are so thorough but sometimes its because it takes them months to accomplish what we could do in a week.