When did the Bureau of Land Management become Law Enforcement?

[Bandit]

I always assumed when the Government sends someone out to enforce a court order that person would be Law Enforcement. When did BLM enter into that category? Is every government agency now a part of law enforcement. Do all the bureaucrats get issued weapons now? What was BLM doing out there with guns? That is the one part about this whole bizarre thing I do not understand.

[oneofthe99]

1. Yes they have a law enforcement

http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/more/law_enforcement.html

[Ptah]

2. here's a link that might help:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureau_of_Land_Management#Law_enforcement_and_security

The BLM Office of Law Enforcement & Security, headquartered in Washington, D.C.,
is a federal law enforcement agency of the U.S. government. All Law Enforcement Rangers
and Special Agents receive their training through Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
(FLETC). Law Enforcement Rangers attend the Land Management Police Training (LMPT)
academy at FLTEC, while BLM Special Agents attend the Criminal Investigator Training Program
(CITP) at FLETC.

BLM Law Enforcement Rangers and Special Agents make up the law enforcement capability
of the BLM. Rangers and Special Agents are located in each of the western states that have
BLM lands. Law Enforcement Rangers make up the uniformed high visibility enforcement of laws.
Special Agents investigate crimes against property, visitors and employees.

[Nevernose]

3. When the agency was created?

http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/more/law_enforcement.html


The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages a wide variety of resources spread over 245 million acres of public lands and 700 million acres of subsurface mineral estate. These public land resources include timber, forage, energy and minerals, recreation, wild horse and burro herds, fish and wildlife habitat, wilderness areas, and archaeological and paleontological sites. The BLM has been given specific resource protection and law enforcement responsibilities that relate to its resource management mission. There are many federal laws and regulations that relate to public lands and resources. These laws and regulations are often quite unique in that they apply only to federal lands and have no counterparts in state law.

The BLM fields a force of approximately 200 Law Enforcement Rangers (uniformed officers) and 70 Special Agents (criminal investigators) who enforce a wide range of laws and regulations in the prevention, detection, and investigation of crimes affecting public lands resources. These crimes include mineral resource theft; wilderness area violations; hazardous materials dumping; archaeological and paleontological resource theft and vandalism; cultivation, manufacture, smuggling, and use of illegal drugs; timber, forest product, and native plant theft; off-highway vehicle use; alcohol related crimes; and wildland arson.

[MohRokTah]

4. Since it was created in 1946. eom

[UTUSN]

5. ^^^^ (= Posts 1-4) - So its authority is supposed to be exerted without enforcement?

What I don't get is why court orders have not proceeded conclusively.

[stevenleser]

11. Didn't you know? All laws are just suggestions. We're supposed to say "aw shucks" when someone

breaks one.

That way, we can all just obey the ones we like. What could go wrong?

[99Forever]

6. Ut oh.

That little gem didn't work out quite as you intended, eh Bandit?

[alcibiades_mystery]

7. "all the bureaucrats" "the Government"

Oh dear Gawd please don't throw county sheriffs into this mix.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Like forever, they have a law enforcement arm

The dept. Of Forestry, you know smokey the gear, they also have a law enforcement arm

[Jesus Malverde]

9. Did you just wake up from a long sleep?

The militarization of federal and state agencies is well known.

It's a war on drugs, a war on terror and a war on YOU.

Attack dogs, tazers and first amendment zones.

[seveneyes]

10. Funeral For Man Killed By BLM Agents

Well, they were able to murder this man in cold blood and get away with it.

http://lasvegas.cbslocal.com/2014/03/31/funeral-for-officer-involved-fatal-shooting-victim/

Just another long arm of law enforcement that can kill any of us with no repercussion.

[Tempest]

14. Yeah, they should have waited until he shot a couple of them first

The guy already had fought with the officers, got away and jumped into a Nevada State Patrol car. He was in the process of trying to get the officer's AR-15 from the rack when he was shot.

A little research goes a long way.

[otohara]

12. The BLM Saves Lives Too

all those firefighters and the special Hot Shots units work hard out here in the West putting out fires, saving lives and homes.

Nineteen members of the Hot Shots were killed in AZ last year.

Not going to hate on the BLM.

[Wellstone ruled]

13. The real ramp up of the BLM came with

Bush/Cheney Patriot Act. Most BLM folks used to go out into the field not feeling being threatened by anyone. They carried a sidearm only for wildlife threats,well,now they wear bullet proof vests and Kevlar. It's a different threat and the human animal is their threat. These folks don't make a ton of money it is passion for the land and nature that attacks these good people.