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Federal Law Enforcement: Results of Surveys of Federal Civilian Law Enforcement Components, an E-supplement to GAO-07-121

GAO-07-223SP Published: Dec 19, 2006. Publicly Released: Dec 19, 2006.
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Highlights

This document presents selected results of GAO's surveys of 104 federal civilian components that employ law enforcement officers (LEO). We defined an LEO as a federal employee who is authorized to perform any of four specific functions: conduct criminal investigations, execute search warrants, make arrests, or carry firearms. The table presenting the selected results can be viewed by clicking on the table of contents at the bottom right of this document. To collect the LEO information on these components, we administered two Web-based surveys--one on the primary sources of authorities for the specified law enforcement functions and the other on the job series classifications used for such LEOs. We received a response rate of 100 percent for both surveys. Copies of the two surveys can viewed by clicking on the table of contents of this document. The selected results we present relate to the number of LEOs that each federal component reported employing as of June 30, 2006, and the distribution of these LEOs across the civilian federal government; the federal job series classifications each component reported that they used to employ LEOs; and the sources from which these components reported deriving their primary statutory, regulatory, or other authorities to perform any of the four specified law enforcement functions. A more detailed discussion of our scope and methodology is contained in our report "Federal Law Enforcement: Survey of Federal Civilian Law Enforcement Functions and Authorities", GAO-07-121 (Washington, D.C.: December 19, 2006). We administered the two surveys from June 2006 to October 2006 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.

Supplemental Material

This document presents selected results of GAO�s surveys of 104 federal civilian components that employ law enforcement officers (LEO). We defined an LEO as a federal employee who is authorized to perform any of four specific functions: conduct criminal investigations, execute search warrants, make arrests, or carry firearms. The table presenting the selected results can viewed by clicking on the table of contents at the bottom right of this document. To collect the LEO information on these components, we administered two Web-based surveys�one on the primary sources of authorities for the specified law enforcement functions and the other on the job series classifications used for such LEOs. We received a response rate of 100 percent for both surveys. Copies of the two surveys can viewed by clicking on the table of contents of this document. The selected results we present relate to the number of LEOs that each federal component reported employing as of June 30, 2006, and the distribution of these LEOs across the civilian federal government; the federal job series classifications each component reported that they used to employ LEOs; and the sources from which these components reported deriving their primary statutory, regulatory, or other authorities to perform any of the four specified law enforcement functions.

A more detailed discussion of our scope and methodology is contained in our report "Federal Law Enforcement: Survey of Federal Civilian Law Enforcement Functions and Authorities", GAO-07-121 (Washington, D.C.: December 19, 2006). We administered the two surveys from June 2006 to October 2006 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.


Instructions for Viewing This E-Supplement

How to View the Surveys

  • Click on the Table of Contents link at the bottom right of this screen. To read to the bottom of the screen, you may need to use your scroll bar on the right side of the screen.
  • In the Table of Contents are links to each of the two surveys described in this e-supplement and a summary table of information derived from the two surveys.
  • Please note: On December 21, 2006 subtotal information was relocated to the appropriate row for the Department of Energy, Department of Interior, Department of Labor, Department of Transportation, Government Accountability Office, National Science Foundation, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and U.S. Postal Service and deleted for the National Railroad Passenger Corporation.

What You Need to Know about the Presentation of the Surveys in This E-Supplement

  • Every respondent was given a unique username and password to participate in the surveys. They could start and stop their surveys at any time and restart at the last response entered.
  • When a survey was active on the Internet, it was presented to the respondents on several screens. The respondents used the navigation buttons at the bottom of each screen to move forward and backward through the survey questionnaire.
  • Instead of presenting you with a series of screens, we simplified the presentation of each survey into a single html file. You will see a bright blue line across the pages to represent where questions were separated into individual screens. On the Table of Contents page, you will find a link to each survey.
  • After viewing a survey, use your browser's back arrow to return to the Table of Contents.
  • The survey had links to allow respondents to bypass inapplicable questions. While these were active links during the data collection period, they have now been disabled.
  • Because each survey was customized with component names and other information that respondents provided, you will see words in brackets that are italicized, such as [name of responding federal component appeared here]. The actual component name appeared when the survey was administered.

How to Make the Text Size Larger on Your Screen

  • You can make the text size larger (or smaller) by changing your browser setting. For example, on Internet Explorer you can go to View on the menu bar and select Text Size to choose the size you prefer.

How to Print the Results of Surveys

  • If you print the table of results you may want to set your printer to use 11x17 paper in Landscape and reduce the left and right margins.
  • You may also want to set your view to the smallest text size and print only the table.
  • For example, on Internet Explorer you can change the printer settings by going to File and select Page Setup. From within the Page Setup window, select 11x17 paper and Landscape, and enter 0.5 for the left and right margins. This number may vary among printers.
  • You can change the text size by going to View and selecting Text Size and Smallest.
  • You can select the table and title by clicking on the first letter of the title ("Federal"), scrolling to the last box at the bottom of the table and, while holding down the shift key, clicking in that box. You can print the selected table and title by going to File and selecting Print, selecting Selection under Page Range, and selecting Print.
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Table of Contents
View Decision

Federal Law Enforcement: Results of Surveys of Federal Civilian Law Enforcement Components
(GAO-07-223SP),
an E-supplement to GAO-07-121


Read the Full Report: Federal Law Enforcement: Survey of Federal Civilian Law Enforcement Functions and Authorities (GAO-07-121)

This document presents selected results of GAO's surveys of 104 federal civilian components that employ law enforcement officers (LEO). We defined an LEO as a federal employee who is authorized to perform any of four specific functions: conduct criminal investigations, execute search warrants, make arrests, or carry firearms. The table presenting the selected results can viewed by clicking on the table of contents at the bottom right of this document. To collect the LEO information on these components, we administered two Web-based surveys—one on the primary sources of authorities for the specified law enforcement functions and the other on the job series classifications used for such LEOs. We received a response rate of 100 percent for both surveys. Copies of the two surveys can viewed by clicking on the table of contents of this document. The selected results we present relate to the number of LEOs that each federal component reported employing as of June 30, 2006, and the distribution of these LEOs across the civilian federal government; the federal job series classifications each component reported that they used to employ LEOs; and the sources from which these components reported deriving their primary statutory, regulatory, or other authorities to perform any of the four specified law enforcement functions.

A more detailed discussion of our scope and methodology is contained in our report "Federal Law Enforcement: Survey of Federal Civilian Law Enforcement Functions and Authorities", GAO-07-121 (Washington, D.C.: December 19, 2006). We administered the two surveys from June 2006 to October 2006 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.


Instructions for Viewing This E-Supplement

How to View the Surveys

  • Click on the Table of Contents link at the bottom right of this screen. To read to the bottom of the screen, you may need to use your scroll bar on the right side of the screen.
  • In the Table of Contents are links to each of the two surveys described in this e-supplement and a summary table of information derived from the two surveys.
  • Please note: On December 21, 2006 subtotal information was relocated to the appropriate row for the Department of Energy, Department of Interior, Department of Labor, Department of Transportation, Government Accountability Office, National Science Foundation, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and U.S. Postal Service and deleted for the National Railroad Passenger Corporation.

What You Need to Know about the Presentation of the Surveys in This E-Supplement

  • Every respondent was given a unique username and password to participate in the surveys. They could start and stop their surveys at any time and restart at the last response entered.
  • When a survey was active on the Internet, it was presented to the respondents on several screens. The respondents used the navigation buttons at the bottom of each screen to move forward and backward through the survey questionnaire.
  • Instead of presenting you with a series of screens, we simplified the presentation of each survey into a single html file. You will see a bright blue line across the pages to represent where questions were separated into individual screens. On the Table of Contents page, you will find a link to each survey.
  • After viewing a survey, use your browser's back arrow to return to the Table of Contents.
  • The survey had links to allow respondents to bypass inapplicable questions. While these were active links during the data collection period, they have now been disabled.
  • Because each survey was customized with component names and other information that respondents provided, you will see words in brackets that are italicized, such as [name of responding federal component appeared here]. The actual component name appeared when the survey was administered.

How to Make the Text Size Larger on Your Screen

  • You can make the text size larger (or smaller) by changing your browser setting. For example, on Internet Explorer you can go to View on the menu bar and select Text Size to choose the size you prefer.

How to Print the Results of Surveys

  • If you print the table of results you may want to set your printer to use 11x17 paper in Landscape and reduce the left and right margins.
  • You may also want to set your view to the smallest text size and print only the table.
  • For example, on Internet Explorer you can change the printer settings by going to File and select Page Setup. From within the Page Setup window, select 11x17 paper and Landscape, and enter 0.5 for the left and right margins. This number may vary among printers.
  • You can change the text size by going to View and selecting Text Size and Smallest.
  • You can select the table and title by clicking on the first letter of the title ("Federal"), scrolling to the last box at the bottom of the table and, while holding down the shift key, clicking in that box. You can print the selected table and title by going to File and selecting Print, selecting Selection under Page Range, and selecting Print.

Contact Information

  • If you have questions concerning these data, please contact Eileen Larence at (202) 512-6510 or Larencee@gao.gov.
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