A common occupation for either a hero or heroine in an
action novel is law enforcement officer. The profession makes sense. When
dealing with the evil aspects of the paranormal, a person needs steely nerves
and ready access to firearms. By why stop with a cop when other agencies might
do nicely?
NYPD Intelligence Bureau
Did you know an arm of the NYPD is an international
intelligence organization? The mission of the NYPD Intelligence Bureau is to detect
and disrupt criminal and terrorist activity. Officers and civilian analysts in
the Intelligence Bureau collect and analyze data from a variety of sources here
and abroad in the pursuit of criminal and terrorist organizations. The Bureau
consists of two divisions; the Intelligence Operations and Analysis Section
(IOAS) and the Criminal Intelligence Section (CIS).
The objective of IOAS is to thwart potential terrorist
plots. The sector uses investigators and civilian analysts to collect and
analyze information about individuals or groups engaged in unlawful activity.
CIS has a similar function, but concentrates on the criminal realm. A critical
component of CIS is the Field Intelligence Officer (FIO) program. FIOs are
ranking uniformed officers deployed to each NYPD precinct, where they collect
and disseminate criminal intelligence information to support narcotics,
firearms and other criminal investigations, ranging from simple short-term
cases to complex long-term ones.
While members of the Intelligence Bureau in New York City
work closely with federal, state, and local law enforcement, through its
International Liaison Program officers are posted in law enforcement agencies around
the world. These officers support the NYPD by providing intelligence and
working with local police. Nothing is said about hunting down demons that roam
the sewers and pose a threat to the good folk of New York City, but one can
only hope.
INTERPOL
Need an overseas agent
provocateur to handle those pesky gremlins, banshees, rakshasha, and
strigoi? Don’t bother looking for a dashing Interpol agent. There aren’t any. INTERPOL’s
mission it to train, offer investigative support, collect data and provide communications
channels among cooperating law enforcement agencies. INTERPOL also analyzes
crime trends and facilitates international police cooperation even where
diplomatic relations don’t exist between countries. In other words, no hunky
experts in daring-do, just office drones. Agents don't even carry guns.
(Although nothing is said on their website about stakes or silver bullets.) It’s
more useful to think of INTERPOL as a bulletin board where national police
forces around the world post wanted notices and requests for information. Some
nations have decided to give these requests binding legal force, but the United
States isn’t one of them.
All INTERPOL member countries are connected through a secure communications system
known as I-24/7. This gives police real-time access to criminal databases containing millions of
records and can alert member countries to fugitives, dangerous criminals,
missing persons, or weapons threats. Unfortunately, instead of hunting
supernatural menaces through the sewers of Paris, an Interpol is agent is more
likely to conduct an online learning course in investigative techniques or an
administrative management program for senior police staff.
Texas Rangers
The Texas Ranger Division is the primary criminal
investigative branch of the Texas Department of Public Safety. Most functions
are common among law enforcement agencies. Rangers investigate murder, robbery,
sexual assault, burglary, theft, fraud, threats against state and federal
officials, and missing persons.
Unlike standard police forces in
the rest of the country though, Texas Rangers also have special duties
involving border control. The Ranger Reconnaissance Team is a highly trained
tactical force and their primary responsibility is to carry out missions along
the Texas-Mexico border region. They
conduct overt and covert operations in remote areas where conventional law
enforcement can’t operate. The focus is to gather intelligence and disrupt criminal
activity usually associated with drug cartels. According to the official website, one of their duties is to “conduct interdiction” which, if you know
what the word “interdiction” means, doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. I prefer
to read between the lines and like to think they really mean “benedictions”
before pursuing supernatural creatures. Although, the website is sketchy on
this subject too, so chupacabras may still run free in the Big Bend National Park. It’s a nice thought.
6 comments:
Great post! I enjoyed learning more about these different types of law enforcement.
Very interesting! Now I want to write about an INTERPOL office drone who's really a bored alien...and hunky. LOL.
Loved your post! I visited the home of the Texas Rangers Museum in Waco, TX and loved the feel of machismo that radiated from each artifact and picture. Very fertile ground for super hero type!
Francesca Q.
Fascinating post. I didn't know Interpol doesn't have agents. You broadened my mental info database. :)
Wow! Great information! And, of course, in the headquarters of each organization is the basement office where an "I Want to Believe" poster hangs on the wall and stacks of file cabinets house cases no one wants to talk about. Thanks for this interesting post!
So many good guys to catch all the bad guys! Great post!
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