Partnerships

Partnerships

In this complex, globalized, post 9/11 world, our operational partnerships have never been more important to our efforts to protect your communities.

Today, we work with colleagues at every level of government—local, state, federal, even international—across the law enforcement, intelligence, and first responder communities. We lead and take part in multi-agency task forces, intelligence groups and fusion centers, and public and private sector alliances. A number of our partners literally sit shoulder-to-shoulder with us in FBI space, just as we share our agents and analysts with other agencies. We work closely on joint investigations—sometimes taking the lead, sometimes taking a back seat to others, sometimes contributing equally among many agencies. Our work with our colleagues, in fact, is so intertwined today that it’s often nearly impossible to separate the contributions of one agency—and one nation—from the next.

In Indianapolis, our major partnerships include:

• The Indianapolis Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) was formed in 1999 to more efficiently combat and investigate acts of domestic and international terrorism. The JTTF brings together law enforcement officers from 15 other federal, state, and local agencies, who complement one another and pool their special skills and knowledge to better target terrorism.
• Our InfraGard Chapter in Indianapolis is the local arm of a national information-sharing alliance between private industry, academia, and government focused on protecting critical national infrastructures in both the online and offline worlds. We also participate in a variety of multi-agency partnerships addressing cyber crimes, and our Evansville and Merrillville Resident Agencies each run a Cyber Crimes Task Force.
• Our white-collar crime investigators participate in joint task forces involving environmental crimes, health care fraud, and public corruption.
• We also lead or take part in several major partnerships targeting violent crime:

• Our Indianapolis Violent Crime/Major Offender Fugitive Task Force was created in 1992 as a multi-agency effort to identify, locate, and apprehend fugitives wanted for the most serious crimes of violence and for drug-related offenses.
• In concert with the FBI’s national strategy to address the most significant drug trafficking threats, our drug program coordinates cases with other federal, state, and local agencies or task forces, including the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) and the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force.
• Our Gang Response Investigative Team (GRIT) Task Force combats drug trafficking and violent street gangs that operate in northwest Indiana. This partnership between the FBI and state and local law enforcement works closely with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to prosecute the most violent offenders and large drug trafficking operations in the region. The GRIT task force operates mainly in Lake County, Indiana, but frequently coordinates investigations with law enforcement in Illinois cities bordering Indiana. The task force consists of FBI agents and officers from various law enforcement agencies—including the Indiana State Police, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, and the Gary Police Department.