I feel a few federal law enforcement agencies could be combined/eliminated as they seem to be extra steps within the system more than justifiable aid. The ATF is a good example, they started as a division tasked with collecting unpaid taxes on alcohol, tobacco, and firearms. Over the years they became focused primarily on firearms, over alcohol or tobacco issues, starting with prohibition. They picked up on mob/gang gun cases while alcohol was illegal and started dealing with illegal gun trafficking in connection to tax evasion. Dealing with the criminal cases tied them into law enforcement, shortly after prohibition ended the IRS reabsorbed several offshoot agencies, had the ATF not taken up the trafficking issues they would have been included. They still have the IRS/tax connections and responsibilities, though they seem to process just enough tax related cases to satisfy their obligations to the IRS. They are lined up for the law enforcement aspect more than any other. Their tax cases being minimal suggests that the IRS could easily reabsorb this area (they have a criminal investigations division already), while the firearms issues easily slot into (came from in the first place) the FBI’s territory, the ATF is a redundant division in it’s functions and productivity. Dissolving this department into the IRS and FBI would allow for it’s funding to be redistributed to more productive endeavors and eliminate a portion of red tape in the systems ability to function smoothly.

I also feel Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement are mirrors of each other, both developed form the Department of Homeland Security. CBP: “Two main stated goals are anti-terrorism and facilitating legitimate trade and travel.” (AllGov, 2015) ICE: “responsible for identifying, investigating, and dismantling vulnerabilities regarding the nation’s border, economic, transportation, and infrastructure security.” (U.S., 2015). Basically, CBP cares about what is coming into the country with whom and rather or not either are permitted. ICE cares about who is coming into the country, what they are bringing and rather either is permitted. While both functions justify a department, that there are two departments, preforming the same function, with polar focuses is potentially counterproductive. They should be separated, not to trip over each other, or combined for the same reason. It seems more complicated to have one department for immigration issues and another for Customs, each could deal with the associated terrorism in their own departments and work together in situations that overlap, but they would still be on top of each other. Breaking departments up excessively only serves to slow the justice systems ability to function, combining CBP and ICE into one larger department could complement both agencies strengths and weaknesses. There would be less inter agency red tape to deal with, better oversight, resulting ideally in things going smother and faster for it.

I also feel the DEA is not needed, at least not in their current form. They are tasked with combating drug trafficking and a leading agency in the war on drugs. I don’t agree with the war on drugs, it serves to make being addicted to something illegal rather than provide proper care and aid to the person. It has had a direct positive correlation to inmate populations (they’ve skyrocketed since enacted), and in this regard creates ‘victim-less’ crimes, rather than dealing with the violent ones that were already happening. Drug trafficking is not a ‘victim-less’ crime, and does need to be dealt with, I could see this function of the DEA melding very will with customs; As I would have them from above, separate from imagination. Properly funding mental heath care, health care, rehab facilities, and decriminalizing drug use, would remove a large portion of the inmate population influx. This would be done, by preventing people from making it as far as the justice system from the get-go, and actually addressing the core issue (resulting in actual ‘reform’/resolution of the potential crime issues – before they occur).

There are redundancy in the federal law enforcement agencies, meant as safeguards, but taken too far they stop being productive and start causing problems instead. Rather than expanding departments, and duplicating purposes, cleaning up and condensing several agencies could result in many benefits. From funding for things like mental health care, health care, substance abuse care, and so on, it could speed up the time constraints going through multiple jurisdictions causes. All of this would help combat the very crimes these agencies were developed for, only more efficient and productively.

References

“AllGov – Departments.” AllGov – Departments. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Aug. 2015.

Bumgarner, Jeffrey B., Charles E. Crawford, and Ronald G. Burns. Federal Law Enforcement: A Primer. Durham: Carolina Academic, 2013. Print.

“Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).” AllGov – Departments. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Aug. 2015.

“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).” AllGov – Departments. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Aug. 2015.

Jocelyn Johnson