Lesser-known U.S. Federal Law Enforcement Agencies Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Which Federal Police Unit has primary protection and enforcement responsibilities for most of the Federal facilities in the Washington D.C. area?

Answer: U.S. Capitol Police

According to the website, The U.S. Capitol Police is an agency of approximately 2,000 officers that was started in 1828, by then President John Q. Adams after his son was attacked. The U.S.C.P. is charged with patrolling the U.S. Capitol Grounds and the neighboring area of an estimated 200 blocks.

The U.S. Secret Service does the White House Grounds and the guarding of the President, Vice President and their families.

The U.S. Park Police share their area with the Washington D.C. Metro police and the Capitol Police in Washington.

2. While on a visit to the Washington D.C. area, you've stopped by the ever popular U.S. Supreme Court Building. Which Federal Police Unit is responsible for this esteemed location?

Answer: U.S. Supreme Court Police

The U.S. Supreme Court Police is one of the smallest Federal Law Enforcement Agencies around. This agency was started in 1949 with approximately 3 dozen Capitol Police Officers.

3. Now, let's jump a bit to the north-east to the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. Which Federal Police Unit is responsible for protection at the U.N. Building?

Answer: None of these

The United Nations has it's own large armed security guard force, but the law enforcement protection is provided by the New York City Police Department. Individual dignitaries may or may not have U.S. Secret Service protection, which varies depending on the status of the dignitary.

4. Your cousin has just come home from serving 6 months in the Iraq conflict. He decides to get checked out at the local V.A. hospital and while trying to park his car he's involved in a minor fender bender accident. Which Federal Police Unit will come take the accident report?

Answer: U.S. Veterans Affairs Police

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Police (my old agency), is one of the larger Federal "POLICE" departments around. There are approximately 2500 officers nationwide at 170 different facilities. The agency is "decentralized", which means each V.A. Hospital has it's own separate unit from patrol officers to the Chief of Police who answers primarily to the Hospital Director, but also to the Central Office in Washington D.C. All U.S.D.V.A. Police officers attend the VA's own Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in North Little Rock, AR. U.S.D.V.A. Police are full power peace officers.

The U.S.D.V.A. Police were cops without guns from 1973 when the guard force was abolished until 1999 when the agency began issuing handguns.

5. The Hoover Dam is located at the Arizona-Nevada border. Until its dissolution in 2017, which police agency had primary responsibility for law enforcement patrols there?

Answer: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Dam Police

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Dam Police was a part of the U.S. Department of the Interior and it was responsible for protecting the nation's dams and other facilities. The Hoover Dam Police were actually required to become State Certified Peace Officers in both Arizona and Nevada. In 2017, its duties were taken over by the National Park Service.

6. Now traveling a bit south we come to the London Bridge in Lake Havasu City at the Arizona-California border. Which police agency has primary responsibility for law enforcement patrols here?

Answer: None of these

The London Bridge at Lake Havasu City is completely within the city limits of Lake Havasu City.

7. If you were to visit one of the six National Mint facilities, which Federal police officers would you see protecting the facility with "Fort Knox"-like security?

Answer: U.S. Mint Police

According to their website, this agency was created in 1792 to protect various U.S. Government valuables located in 6 places across the nation from Washington D.C. to San Francisco.

8. Which is the oldest uniformed Federal Law Enforcement Agency?

Answer: U.S. Park Police

According to their website, the U.S. Park Police, was first created in 1791 by none other than George Washington. This specialized unit is a separate part of the National Park Service, which falls under the Department of the Interior, which makes the Interior third in the number of different federal law enforcement units behind the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security.

The main areas of patrol outside of the Washington D.C. area are, the N.Y.C.'s Gateway National Recreation Area, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco and several others across the country.

9. The relatively newly created Department of Homeland Security is the combination of several formerly separate entities (both Agencies and Bureaus) and consolidated into one big happy family (yeah right). Which formerly separate law enforcement unit is now a component of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Answer: U.S. Federal Protective Services

The Federal Protective Service (FPS) used to be organized under the Department of Administration and is in charge of police and security activities at a variety of almost 9,000 federal buildings nationwide. To aid them in this huge task, numerous contract security officers are employed through various companies. These sites are all supervised by sworn FPS/ICE officials.

The U.S. GPO Police (staff of 50+) and the U.S. Library of Congress Police (staff of 120+) still remain as separate entities, but a proposal is under consideration to merge one or both of these smaller units into the U.S. Capitol Police (staff more than 1700)

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Police are located in Bethesda, MD protecting the Scientific Research and the NIH research community.

10. Here's a last question that's a "bear" of a question. Located in Washington D.C. is the Smithsonian National Zoological Park which is connected to the Smithsonian Institution. True or false: The zoo has its own police force.

Answer: true

Amazingly enough, YES. The Zoo does have its own police force of approximately 50 officers who work closely with both the U.S. Park Police and the Washington D.C. Metro police in conducting daily policing activities.

Source: Author hospitalcop

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor trident before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Many people know about the "big" Federal Law Enforcement units like the A.T.F., D.E.A. and F.B.I. and the newer Dept. of Homeland Security. But, how many of you have heard about some of these less well-known Federal Law Enforcement Units?

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