Federal Law Enforcement Follies

Lapses In Judgment Create Lapses In Security

In the 1980 movie “Hopscotch”, after the FBI bungles an attempt to catch former CIA agent Miles Kendig, (played by Walter Matthau) CIA director Myerson (played by Ned Beatty) climbs out of a car that has slid off the road (driven by an FBI agent) and states, “now I know what FBI stands for, F**cking Ballbusting Imbeciles”.

In the fictitious world of a television show or movie, such a statement is good for a few laughs, but in the real world, it’s no laughing matter. Unfortunately, real-world criticism of federal law enforcement agencies is accurate all too frequently. FBI, CIA, and Secret Service agents are typically well-trained and proficient; the issue appears to lie with management. For decades, the federal agency' approach to investigations and suspect apprehensions has been to ignore input from local law enforcement, take over a case and act as if it has the exclusive ability to solve crimes.

The conflict between local law enforcement and federal law enforcement agencies shown in numerous television shows and movies is in fact a reflection of real life- “Ripped from the headlines” as is often claimed in movie and television drama promotions. In both real life and on the big and small screens, officers of local law enforcement agencies are typically treated as if they are an enemy rather than a helpful ally.

Although agents of the FBI, Secret Service, or other federal agencies may have superior training (which is often questionable) and access to criminal data unavailable to local police, they do not have the knowledge that comes from local on-the-ground experience. I have spoken with a number of police officers who told me that a suspect escaped because the FBI agents took over an investigation and essentially said, “We are in charge now, get lost”. Although it appears that the Secret Service is less dismissive of local law enforcement, the end result is the same- lapses in security.

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It is therefore no surprise the lack of communication between the Secret Service and local law enforcement is being cited as one of the reasons for the security lapses prior to and during the recent attempts to assassinate former president Donald Trump both in Pennsylvania and Florida.

Conflict between federal and local law enforcement agencies is often written off as little more than sibling rivalry, but the consequence of that rivalry is a significant problem. In an article published by “The Epoch Times”, Billy Ray Hunter, a former SWAT officer in Alachua County, Florida, said in a September 17 interview, “I pray that this is the last one (assassination attempt) [but] I’m really concerned because I don’t believe it’s over. Enemies have seen the inability to protect him” (Trump)

In the same article, “James Tignanelli, president of the Police Officers Association of Michigan, told The Epoch Times that it’s apparent that agents failed to take some basic steps to secure the golf course and ensure Trump’s safety.” The article also stated, “Tignanelli’s biggest concern about both incidents was the lack of communication and coordination between federal agents and local officers—a problem that he sees “time and time again,” despite it being laid bare during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.”

Secret Service Acting Director, Ronald Rowe has defended his agency’s actions to protect Trump at the golf course, saying the measures deployed were effective. He stated that counter snipers, countersurveillance agents, counterassault teams, and drones were deployed at the golf course.

If that’s true, why didn’t the drones pick up the presence of the would-be assassin? Were they not flown around the perimeter? Were they equipped only with cameras and not heat detection equipment? It’s difficult to believe that a drone with thermal imaging capability would not pick up the presence of a person hiding in a wooded area. If foliage coverage was sufficiently dense to prevent a drone from picking up a heat signature, certainly ground-based thermal imaging equipment would have alerted security personnel about the presence of a warm body hiding in the woods. (A wide variety of thermal imaging equipment is widely available and can even be found on Amazon.)

Fortunately, an agent who was walking the golf course in front of Trump saw the suspect and prevented him from firing his rifle. But the presence of an intruder should have been detected long before Trump grabbed his first golf club. 

Apparently, the perimeter was never fully checked. According to Hunter and Tignanelli, it wouldn’t have taken much time to survey the perimeter and to ask local police to help with that. Tignanelli also stated that in his four decades in law enforcement, he has found, “the federal agencies don’t want to tell you what they’re doing. It’s absurd on their part”. Tignanelli also noted that local police are usually the ones who catch the bad guys, which was the case in Florida.

It is long past time for federal law enforcement agencies to develop a comprehensive plan for working with, rather than against, local police agencies. Sensitive and confidential information certainly should be protected, but history has amply demonstrated that refusing to communicate and work with local law enforcement is counterproductive when solving crimes and catching suspects is the goal. It almost led to the death of a presidential candidate.

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