Not sure if this should be GQ or CS, so I guessed. Anyway, it’s a standard plot device: the local cops are investigating a crime, then all of a sudden the Feds jump in and assume control of the investigation. Or worse, they tell the locals to back off because they’re in danger of blowing the cover on a Much Bigger Operation. Or the Feds are depicted as bureaucratic, politicized, and (good) publicity hungry, if not downright incompetent, as in the novel/movie Hannibal. Is this federal/local antipathy based at all in reality?
They can be a problem sometimes. I’ve seen it both ways. The Feds have been arrogant obstructionist glory hounds AND, in other cases, they were very supportive and easy to work with. I think it has everything to do with the individuals involved, on both sides of the fence, and the organizational culture within regional and district offices.
It depends whether the FBI agents are Special Agent Johnson and Special Agent Johnson (no relation).
I think we’re gonna need some new FBI guys.
“This is Johnson. No, the other one.”