# Why doesn't the FBI investigate police killings? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 24, 2016, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-the-fbi-investigate-police-killings/772884 "2016-11-24T14:16:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2016, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-the-fbi-investigate-police-killings/772884/1 "2016-11-24T14:16:53Z")
Americans - particularly black Americans - are in the news for being killed by police. In [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=807040) it was established that Americans are citizens of the US first and the state (Alabama, NY, Texas, etc) second. Therefore the killing of a citizen is a federal matter, so why doesn’t the FBI - or another federal institution - automatically investigate killings by police? I’m hoping there’s a GQ answer to this. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2016, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-the-fbi-investigate-police-killings/772884/2 "2016-11-24T14:24:28Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Therefore the killing of a citizen is a federal matter That’s an interesting conclusion, to say the least. Unless someone is killed on federal land, or by a federal officer in the course of their duties, or the deceased is a federal employee killed in the course of their duties, there is no federal jurisdiction to investigate a killing. An exception is with enforcement of federal Civil Rights statutes, where local police officers can and have been investigated and charged for violating the civil rights of people killed unjustly. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2016, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-the-fbi-investigate-police-killings/772884/3 "2016-11-24T14:34:54Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > That’s an interesting conclusion, to say the least. Ah, so I’m not only wrong but DEAD WRONG. 🙂 > [@](#): > > An exception is with enforcement of federal Civil Rights statutes, Like ‘the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2016, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-the-fbi-investigate-police-killings/772884/4 "2016-11-24T14:46:04Z")
The phrase “the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’” is from the Declaration of Independence and not the constitution, therefore it does not actually have any legal standing in the US. In fact, murder is a state-level crime, not a Federal one with a few exceptions already noted. Therefore the police in the state jurisdiction where the murder occurred are the ones who investigate it, no the FBI. The FBI will get involved if a crime like murder crosses state lines. I think they will also get involved if the local jurisdiction requests assistance. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2016, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-the-fbi-investigate-police-killings/772884/5 "2016-11-24T14:53:08Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Like ‘the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’? No, that’s in the Declaration of Independence and has no relevance to law, but I see I was beaten to the punch. The federal civil liberties laws specifically call out discrimination based on race, gender, ethnicity and if someone’s right are violate with respect to those then the feds can get involved. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2016, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-the-fbi-investigate-police-killings/772884/6 "2016-11-24T14:53:38Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Like ‘the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’? That’s not a phrase that really has any legal significance; it appears in the Declaration of Independence as a statement of republican ideals. Look up 18 USC 242 if you really want the gory details.