The Federal Bureau of Investigation is responsible for investigating federal crimes and protecting the United States from national security threats, both foreign and domestic. It sits inside the Department of Justice and draws its authority from 28 U.S.C. § 533, which lets the Attorney General appoint officials to investigate crimes against the United States.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 533 – Investigative and Other Officials; Appointment In practice, that mandate covers more than 200 categories of federal crime and stretches from terrorism prevention to the background-check system that clears every firearm sold by a licensed dealer.
National Security: Counterterrorism and Counterintelligence
Stopping terrorist attacks is the Bureau’s top priority. Federal law separates domestic terrorism, which involves dangerous acts inside the United States intended to intimidate civilians or coerce government policy, from international terrorism, which meets the same criteria but crosses national borders.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2331 – Definitions The FBI investigates both.
Most of that work runs through Joint Terrorism Task Forces. Roughly 200 JTTFs operate nationwide, with at least one attached to each of the Bureau’s 56 field offices, bringing together investigators and analysts from dozens of federal, state, and local agencies.3Federal Bureau of Investigation. Joint Terrorism Task Forces A national-level JTTF at FBI Headquarters coordinates information among them. Penalties are severe: acts of terrorism that cross national boundaries can carry life imprisonment, and the death penalty is available if someone dies. Even threatening such an act can bring up to 10 years.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2332b – Acts of Terrorism Transcending National Boundaries
The FBI is also the lead agency for identifying and stopping foreign intelligence operations on U.S. soil.5Federal Bureau of Investigation. Counterintelligence and Espionage Agents work to detect foreign operatives who try to recruit insiders or steal classified information, prevent weapons of mass destruction from reaching hostile actors, and protect the intelligence community’s own secrets.
Economic espionage sits inside this mission. The Bureau estimates that foreign theft of proprietary technology, manufacturing processes, and trade secrets costs the American economy hundreds of billions of dollars per year. Defense contractors and tech firms are obvious targets, but the FBI has warned that any company with a proprietary product or process can attract attention from foreign intelligence services.
Cybercrime
The Bureau runs a dedicated cyber program focused on state-sponsored hacking, ransomware, large-scale data breaches, and business email compromise schemes. Each of the 56 field offices houses a trained cyber squad, and the FBI leads the National Cyber Investigative Joint Task Force, which pulls in more than 30 agencies from law enforcement and the intelligence community.6Federal Bureau of Investigation. Cyber A Cyber Action Team can deploy anywhere in the country within hours of a major incident, and cyber attachés stationed in U.S. embassies handle international cases.
The primary federal computer crime statute prohibits accessing protected computers without authorization or exceeding authorized access. First-time offenses involving national security information carry up to 10 years in prison. Repeat offenders face up to 20 years, as does anyone whose intrusion recklessly causes serious bodily injury.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1030 – Fraud and Related Activity in Connection With Computers
Civil Rights and Public Corruption
The FBI is the primary federal agency for civil rights investigations.8Federal Bureau of Investigation. Civil Rights That includes officials who abuse their authority to violate someone’s rights, an offense known as deprivation of rights under color of law. The base penalty is up to a year in prison, but it climbs to 10 years if the victim suffers bodily injury and up to life or the death penalty if the victim dies.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 242 – Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law
Hate crimes also fall within the Bureau’s jurisdiction. Federal law criminalizes violence motivated by a victim’s actual or perceived race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 249 – Hate Crime Acts Agents also enforce the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which makes it a federal crime to injure, intimidate, or interfere with anyone seeking or providing health care services, or to damage a facility because it provides reproductive health care.
Public corruption cases round out this portfolio. Agents investigate bribery, embezzlement, and election fraud across local, state, and federal offices when an official uses public position for illegal personal gain.
Organized Crime, White-Collar Fraud, and Intellectual Property
Dismantling criminal enterprises is a core FBI function, and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act is the central tool. RICO reaches leaders who direct criminal enterprises even if they never personally carried out the underlying crimes. The statute prohibits using racketeering income to acquire or run a business, controlling an enterprise through a pattern of criminal activity, and conspiracies to do either.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1962 – Prohibited Activities Convictions carry up to 20 years per count, or life if the underlying offense itself carries a life sentence, plus mandatory forfeiture of any interest or proceeds tied to the enterprise.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1963 – Criminal Penalties
White-collar cases include securities fraud, corporate embezzlement, and money laundering. Securities fraud involving publicly traded companies carries up to 25 years.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1348 – Securities and Commodities Fraud Intellectual property theft is another growing area. The Bureau’s top priorities in that space are counterfeit products that threaten health and safety, such as fake pharmaceuticals and aircraft parts, trade secret theft, and violations with significant economic impact.14Federal Bureau of Investigation. Intellectual Property Law Enforcement Efforts The FBI partners with the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, hosted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to coordinate enforcement.
Violent Crimes With a Federal Hook
Certain violent crimes automatically fall to the FBI. Federal kidnapping law applies when a victim is transported across state lines or the offense involves foreign officials, federal employees, or federal maritime or aircraft jurisdiction, with penalties ranging up to life and the death penalty if the victim dies.15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1201 – Kidnapping Robberies of federally insured banks are federal cases and carry up to 20 years.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2113 – Bank Robbery and Incidental Crimes
Crimes against children are a separate priority. The Bureau’s Violent Crimes Against Children program works to identify, locate, and recover child victims of abuse and exploitation.17Federal Bureau of Investigation. Violent Crimes Against Children Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Forces pursue online exploitation networks, the distribution of child sexual abuse material, and child sex trafficking. The Endangered Child Alert Program, launched in 2004, publicizes the identities of unknown suspects tied to abuse material, and FBI personnel at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children review CyberTipline reports.
In Indian Country, the federal government has primary responsibility for major felonies like homicide and sexual assault. The FBI’s authority there comes principally from the General Crimes Act and the Major Crimes Act, and agents work these cases alongside tribal authorities.18Federal Bureau of Investigation. Indian Country Crime
Firearms Background Checks
The FBI operates the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, created by the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993.19Federal Bureau of Investigation. About NICS Every purchase from a licensed firearms dealer runs through NICS. The buyer completes the required form, the dealer submits it, and the FBI checks whether the buyer is legally eligible to own a firearm. The system was built with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and state and local law enforcement, and it processes millions of transactions each year.
Support for Other Law Enforcement
The FBI supplies infrastructure and expertise that local agencies cannot replicate on their own. It manages the National Crime Information Center, a nationwide computerized system linking federal, state, and local agencies, holding records on wanted persons, stolen property, missing persons, and criminal histories.20United States Department of Justice Archives. Organization and Functions Manual 11 – FBI Cooperative and Information Services It also runs the Combined DNA Index System, which lets investigators match crime scene samples against a national database.
The FBI Laboratory performs forensic analysis of ballistic, trace, toxicology, and digital evidence for cases across the country. And the FBI National Academy, a 10-week program at Quantico, trains managers from state, local, tribal, military, federal, and international agencies in intelligence, terrorism, management science, behavioral science, law enforcement communication, and forensic science.21FBI.gov. Law Enforcement Training Programs and Resources
What the FBI Cannot Do
The Bureau’s authority is not open-ended. It can investigate only where federal law has been violated or where national security is at stake. Many crimes break both state and federal law, creating concurrent jurisdiction; in those cases federal and state authorities decide who takes the lead based on the severity of the offense, available resources, and whether the crime crosses state lines.22Federal Bureau of Investigation. Do FBI Agents Work With State, Local, or Other Law Enforcement Officers on Task Forces? A purely local crime with no federal hook stays with state and local police.
Reporting a Crime or Tip
If you have information about a federal crime or suspected terrorist activity, the FBI’s Electronic Tip Form at tips.fbi.gov accepts online reports, and you are not required to provide your name.23Federal Bureau of Investigation. Electronic Tip Form Cyber-related crimes go through the Internet Crime Complaint Center at IC3.gov. In an emergency, call 911 first.