A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for law enforcement within a specific jurisdiction through the employment and deployment of law enforcement officers and their resources. The most common type of law enforcement agency is the police, but various other forms exist as well, including agencies that focus on specific legal violation, or are organized and overseen by certain authorities. They typically have various powers and legal rights to allow them to perform their duties, such as the power of arrest and the use of force.
Scotland Yard, headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the law enforcement agency of London, England
The exterior of the Los Angeles Police Department's West Valley Area Police Station. The LAPD operates approximately 21 such stations divided across Los Angeles; this one covers policing in the San Fernando Valley.
Bundespolizei officers with their police car
American federal law enforcement agents working together. Each federal LEA in the U.S. has a different focus and jurisdiction; for example, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (agent in center) investigates crimes involving alcohol, tobacco, and weaponry.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating illicit drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act, sharing concurrent jurisdiction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. However, the DEA has sole responsibility for coordinating and pursuing U.S. drug investigations both domestically and internationally.
DEA agents in MultiCam uniform burning hashish seized in Operation Albatross in Afghanistan, 2007
Two DEA agents in a shoot house exercise
"Operation Somalia Express" was an 18-month investigation that included the coordinated takedown of a 44-member international narcotics-trafficking organization responsible for smuggling more than 25 tons of khat from the Horn of Africa to the United States.
People protesting medical marijuana raids