| Local law enforcement officers are tasked with many duties during the course of their careers and as such, they are burdened with many if not most of the responsibilities within law enforcement. During the course of their careers, specific members of local law enforcement are selected to participate in programs where the local officer is deputized to work federal drug cases. This study focused on local officers deputized to work federal cases with the Drug Enforcement Administration. This generic qualitative study used the complexity and organization theories as guidelines for the examination of the role and arrest powers of local law enforcement deputized to work in federal drug enforcement. The study used face-to-face interviews of participants who were deputized as Task Force Officers (TFOs) for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in a U.S. Territory. This research study explained the role and arrest powers of deputized Task Force Officers assigned to federal drug enforcement. |
