MINOR CRIMINAL OFFENSES

A minor criminal offense is defined as one punishable under the UCMJ by confinement of 1 year or less, or carrying similar punishment by Federal, state, local, or foreign statute and lacking any of the considerations listed in the previous discussion of major criminal offenses.

COMMAND INVESTIGATORS

Certain Navy and Marine Corps commands maintain investigative personnel within Master-at-Arms forces, military police, base police, security or guard forces, shore patrol, provost marshals, and other compositions. Use of these investigators for criminal and security investigations is limited to minor criminal offenses, and those of a purely military character when the offense involves only Navy or Marine Corps personnel or dependents, and the investigation is confined to a ship or station. Off-base investigative activities, with the exception of normal liaison with local law-enforcement agencies, are restricted to a minimum and to the immediate area surrounding the installation.

This policy does not in any way restrict the discharge of assigned police and law enforcement functions by authorized personnel or their responsibilities to execute appropriate procedures on suspicion or discovery of any criminal offense, such as preventing the escape or loss of identity of suspected offenders, preserving crime scenes and the integrity of physical evidence, effecting preliminary on-scene inquiries, investigative assistance under the operational direction of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, or any other actions that, in the judgment of the responsible commander, are necessary for the immediate preservation of good order and discipline.

Command investigators will be recommended by the security officer for appointment by the commanding officer. Persons who are selected must have received formal training (NEC 2002) and/or be experienced to such a degree that the integrity of investigations will not be compromised and will lead to successful prosecution.

SECURITY AND COUNTERINTELLIGENCE MATTERS

Departmental agreements between Defense and Justice in part implement a Presidential directive that, for the NCIS, establishes exclusive investigative jurisdiction within the Department of the Navy in matters involving actual, potential, or suspected sabotage, espionage, and subversive activities. This is considered to include actual, suspected, or attempted defection. Command referral of matters in these categories to the NCIS is mandatory.

Security matters requiring utilization of the NCIS include the following:

1. Loss, compromise, leakage, or unauthorized disclosure of classified information, when appropriate, in accordance with OPNAVINST 5510.1.

2. Unauthorized attempts to obtain classified or other information of intelligence value from Navy and Marine Corps personnel.

3. Security situations that lend themselves to ^{resolution through the} application of counterintelligence operational techniques and counterintelligence studies and analysis of groups or organizations whose interests are inimical to those of the

United States, whose actions are targeted against the Navy and represent a clear threat to security. See DOD Directive 5705.42, Defense Investigative Service (DIS).

PERSONNEL SECURITY INVESTIGATIONS

The Defense Investigative Service (DIS) is a separate operating agency of the Department of Defense and provides for the conduct of personnel security investigations (PSIs) for DOD components. The DIS performs this function within the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The NCIS accomplishes PSIs on behalf of the DIS in other areas and has responsibility for investigative development of matters resulting from personnel security investigations that have a significant counterintelligence or criminal aspect.

INITIATION AND REPORTING OF INVESTIGATIONS

Requests for NCIS support maybe initiated by any commander, commanding officer, or other appropriate command authority in the Navy and Marine Corps, to the nearest NCIS representative. The NCIS is authorized, exclusive of command request, to undertake activities in matters of sabotage, espionage, and subversive activity; and to support on a reciprocal basis other Federal, state, local, or foreign law enforcement, security, or intelligence agencies. Separate from the foregoing, the Director, Naval Criminal Investigative Service and representatives specifically designated by the director are authorized to initiate preliminary investigative action without a specific request in any category of case under NCIS investigative jurisdiction when urgent or unusual circumstances exist.

The NCIS maintains technical specialists qualified to assist commands in their development of a comprehensive audio security posture through the application of technical surveillance countermeasures techniques. (See OPNAVINST C5500.46.)

With the exception of those offenses that are purely military in nature or relate to routine traffic violations, copies of all reports of complaint and investigation by command criminal investigative and security personnel and base police are furnished to the local NCIS representative.

The NCIS will provide a full report of each investigation conducted on behalf of the requesting authority.

The NCIS maintains a central repository for appropriate reports of investigation and pertinent counterintelligence data and provides statistical data on investigative and other matters within its mission responsibility.

CREDENTIALS AND BADGES

Individuals accredited by the Director, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, to carry out investigations and other mission-related responsibilities are issued standardized credentials and badges designating them "Special Agents." Certain personnel are also issued credentials identifying them as "NCIS Representatives." No other persons in the Navy and Marine Corps engaged in investigative, security, or counterintelligence matters are authorized to use these titles. Personnel issued NCIS Special Agent and Representative credentials are cleared for access up to and including Top Secret by the Director, Naval Criminal Investigative Service. They are presumed to have a "need to know" with regard to access to information, material, or spaces relevant to the performance of their official duties. Access to special intelligence and compartmented or similarly controlled spaces, material, or information is cleared by the authority controlling access before the Special Agent or Representative pursues a matter of official concern. NCIS Special Agent and Representative credentials are to be accorded full recognition when presented on entering or leaving installations. Accredited NCIS personnel, vehicles used by them in the course of official business, and all occupants therein are exempt from routine search.

Properly designated personnel assigned to naval security forces, shore patrol, or other activities as command investigators, will carry a Department of the Navy Command Investigator ID Card (OPNAV 5527/26) signed by the commanding officer. See figure 15-1. Command investigators who are required by their commanding officer to carry badges should use those badges displayed in U.S. Navy Uniform Regulations, upon which appropriate wording should be engraved (for example, Security Investigator, Command Investigator, S.P. Investigator, MA Investigator).