When the FBI Comes Calling…®

Law Enforcement Abroad

Because TITLE III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 applies only domestically, there is left a gap for what procedures the Law Enforcement Community (LEC) has for surveillance while abroad. In order not to impinge upon the jurisdictional authority of the state which the target of surveillance is in, the LEC is bound to abide by the standards set by the given host country. This effectively means that those standards which guard against unreasonable searches and seizures domestically may be either strengthened or weakened, depending upon the dictates of the host country.

Whatever their standards for privacy, traditional domestic tests of reasonableness for the searches do still apply.