The Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS) is a division of the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

that investigates crimes where the U.S. Coast Guard has an interest. It is composed of

civilian Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not "combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatant, b ...

( GS-1811),

active duty Active duty, in contrast to reserve duty, is a full-time occupation as part of a military force. In the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations, the equivalent term is active service. India The Indian Armed Forces are considered to be one ...

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

enlisted, and

warrant officer Warrant officer (WO) is a rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ranks, the mos ...

special agents.

Mission

The mission of the Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS) is to conduct professional criminal investigations, engage in law enforcement information and intelligence collection, provide protective services, and establish and maintain law enforcement liaison directed at preserving the integrity of the Coast Guard, protecting the welfare of Coast Guard personnel, and supporting Coast Guard and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) maritime law enforcement and counter-terrorism missions worldwide.

Authority

The Coast Guard Investigative Service is a federal law enforcement agency whose law enforcement authority is derived from . This authority provides for Coast Guard special agents to conduct investigations of actual, alleged or suspected criminal activity; carry firearms; execute and serve warrants; and make arrests for all crimes under the jurisdiction of the United States. The criminal investigative function of the Coast Guard Investigative Service is similar to that of a major crimes unit at a large metropolitan police department, investigating crimes such as those "internal" to the Coast Guard, including fraud, larceny, homicide and rape, as well as "external" investigations of maritime-related crimes ranging from migrant and drug smuggling, homicide, rape, false distress calls, and violations of the environmental laws. The Coast Guard Investigative Service is a centralized directorship managed by a professional

criminal investigator A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

who reports directly to the Coast Guard's

Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard The vice commandant of the Coast Guard serves as the second-in-command of the United States Coast Guard, behind only the commandant of the Coast Guard. Since 1929, 31 officers have served as Vice Commandant, or, as the position was referred to ...

. It is located outside the Coast Guard's operational chain of command.

Responsibilities

Criminal investigations

* Felony violations of the

Uniform Code of Military Justice The Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. §§ 801–946 is the foundation of military law in the United States. It was established by the United States Congress in accordance with the authority given by the United States Constitution ...

(UCMJ) *

United States Code In the law of the United States, the Code of Laws of the United States of America (variously abbreviated to Code of Laws of the United States, United States Code, U.S. Code, U.S.C., or USC) is the official compilation and codification of the ...

violations related to or within the maritime jurisdiction of the U.S. * Counter-narcotics and alien-smuggling investigations * Fisheries Violations and Environmental Crimes *

Counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or el ...

and force protection * Investigative assistance to federal, state and local law enforcement * Protective service operations

Commandant/Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard

* Assistance to

U.S. Secret Service The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security charged with conducting criminal investigations and protecting U.S. political leaders, their families, and ...

Presidential Detail * Other foreign and domestic dignitaries as requested

Intelligence operations

* Human intelligence (HUMINT) collection operations * Image intelligence collection operations (IMINT) * Law enforcement information collection * Counterintelligence functions are investigated by the

Coast Guard Counterintelligence Service Coast Guard Intelligence (CGI) is the military intelligence branch of the United States Coast Guard, and a component of the Central Security Service of the United States Department of Defense. The United States Coast Guard is a military, multi-mis ...

as part of U.S. Coast Guard Intelligence.

Anti-fraud, waste and abuse

Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General The Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General was established along with the Department of Homeland Security itself in 2002 by the Homeland Security Act. Its website describes its mission as "supervis ngindependent audits, inve ...

Hotline complaint investigations *

TRICARE Tricare (styled TRICARE) is a health care program of the United States Department of Defense Military Health System. Tricare provides civilian health benefits for U.S Armed Forces military personnel, military retirees, and their dependents, in ...

medical fraud investigations * Contract fraud investigations

Task force and liaison activities

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) *

Organized Crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) * High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force * Border Enforcement Security Team (BEST)

International policing

INTERPOL The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...

* International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP)

CGIS Special Agents

The CGIS special agent workforce is composed of active duty military, reserve, and civilian personnel. All CGIS Special Agents are sworn personnel with powers of arrest and warrant service. All CGIS Special Agents have full arrest powers under Title 14 section 95 of the

. The active duty military component is composed of enlisted personnel,

chief warrant officer Chief warrant officer is a military rank used by the United States Armed Forces, the Canadian Armed Forces, the Pakistan Air Force, the Israel Defense Forces, the South African National Defence Force, the Lebanese Armed Forces and, since 2012, th ...

and commissioned officer investigator positions. The civilian component is composed of to SES

positions.

Firearms

The Coast Guard Investigative Service's standard issue firearm is the Glock 19M.

Appearance in popular culture

Dave Barry David McAlister Barry (born July 3, 1947) is an American author and columnist who wrote a nationally syndicated humor column for the ''Miami Herald'' from 1983 to 2005. He has also written numerous books of humor and parody, as well as comic ...

's 2002 novel '' Tricky Business'' features a CGIS special agent as an undercover operative aboard a

gambling ship A gambling ship is a sea vessel of any kind on which gambling takes place. Historically, international waters began just from land in many countries. Gambling ships, like offshore radio stations, would usually be anchored just outside the th ...

harbored in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, which the Coast Guard suspects is being used for

money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...

and transacting illegal narcotics while at sea. *In March 2010, the character of Abigail Borin, a fictional CGIS special agent portrayed by actress

Diane Neal Diane Neal (born November 17, 1976) is an American actress best known for her role as New York Assistant District Attorney Casey Novak in the television series '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', which she played from 2003 to 2008, and 2011 t ...

, appeared on the hit television drama '' NCIS'' in an episode entitled "Jurisdiction". Special agent in Charge Borin appeared again in January 2011, in the episode "Ships in the Night", as CGIS joined the NCIS team in the investigation of the murder of a U.S. Marine Corps officer on a dinner boat cruise on the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augus ...

. The story illustrates CGIS's law enforcement responsibilities along the United States' rivers, coastlines, and inland waterways in support of the Coast Guard. She returned for a third time in the episode "Safe Harbor", which had a plot that illustrated the role of the CGIS in supporting the Department of Homeland Security through maritime law enforcement and counter-terrorism missions worldwide. Borin also appeared in the 2012 episode "Lost at Sea," the 2013 episode "Oil and Water," and the 2014 episode "The San Dominick." **Neal reprised her role as special agent in charge Borin in the 2015 episode of '' NCIS: New Orleans'' "The Abyss," which showcases CGIS' role in interviewing and interrogating suspected terrorists aboard USCG vessels, and their role in the recovery of remains in U.S. waters. She returned in the subsequent episode "The Walking Dead," and again at the conclusion of the first season, bringing Borin's total appearances to 9.

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Investigative Service Military police agencies of the United States