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 Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

that investigates crimes where the U.S. Coast Guard has an interest. It is composed of civilian ( GS-1811),

active duty Active duty, in contrast to reserve duty, is a full-time occupation as part of a military force. Indian The Indian Armed Forces are considered to be one of the largest active service forces in the world, with almost 1.42 million Active Standin ...

, reserve enlisted, and

warrant officer Warrant officer (WO) is a Military rank, 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 ...

special agents In the United States, a special agent is an official title used to refer to certain detective, investigators or detectives of federal, military, tribal, or state agencies who primarily serve in criminal investigation, criminal investigatory posi ...

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

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 who reports directly to the Coast Guard's Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard. It is located outside the Coast Guard's operational chain of command.

Responsibilities

Criminal investigations

* Felony violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) *

United States Code The United States Code (formally The Code of Laws of the United States of America) is the official Codification (law), codification of the general and permanent Law of the United States#Federal law, federal statutes of the United States. It ...

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 (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and intelligence agencies use to co ...

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 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 as part of U.S. Coast Guard Intelligence.

Anti-fraud, waste and abuse

* Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General Hotline complaint investigations *

TRICARE Tricare (styled TRICARE) is a health care program of the United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the fede ...

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 Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) *

Organized Crime Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...

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 – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...

* 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 and commissioned officer investigator positions. The civilian component is composed of to SES criminal investigator 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 Print syndication, syndicated humor column for the ''Miami Herald'' from 1983 to 2005. He has written numerous books of humor and parody, as we ...

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

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, which the Coast Guard suspects is being used for

money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...

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, 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 () is in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography D ...

. 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