View all text of Chapter 15 [§ 271 - § 284]
§ 274. Maintenance and operation of equipment
(a) The Secretary of Defense may, in accordance with other applicable law, make Department of Defense personnel available for the maintenance of equipment for Federal, State, and local civilian law enforcement officials, including equipment made available under section 372
(b)
(1) Subject to paragraph (2) and in accordance with other applicable law, the Secretary of Defense may, upon request from the head of a Federal law enforcement agency, make Department of Defense personnel available to operate equipment (including equipment made available under section 372 1 of this title) with respect to—
(A) a criminal violation of a provision of law specified in paragraph (4)(A);
(B) assistance that such agency is authorized to furnish to a State, local, or foreign government which is involved in the enforcement of similar laws;
(C) a foreign or domestic counter-terrorism operation; or
(D) a rendition of a suspected terrorist from a foreign country to the United States to stand trial.
(2) Department of Defense personnel made available to a civilian law enforcement agency under this subsection may operate equipment for the following purposes:
(A) Detection, monitoring, and communication of the movement of air and sea traffic.
(B) Detection, monitoring, and communication of the movement of surface traffic outside of the geographic boundary of the United States and within the United States not to exceed 25 miles of the boundary if the initial detection occurred outside of the boundary.
(C) Aerial reconnaissance.
(D) Interception of vessels or aircraft detected outside the land area of the United States for the purposes of communicating with such vessels and aircraft to direct such vessels and aircraft to go to a location designated by appropriate civilian officials.
(E) Operation of equipment to facilitate communications in connection with law enforcement programs specified in paragraph (4)(A).
(F) Subject to joint approval by the Secretary of Defense and the Attorney General (and the Secretary of State in the case of a law enforcement operation outside of the land area of the United States)—
(i) the transportation of civilian law enforcement personnel along with any other civilian or military personnel who are supporting, or conducting, a joint operation with civilian law enforcement personnel;
(ii) the operation of a base of operations for civilian law enforcement and supporting personnel; and
(iii) the transportation of suspected terrorists from foreign countries to the United States for trial (so long as the requesting Federal law enforcement agency provides all security for such transportation and maintains custody over the suspect through the duration of the transportation).
(3) Department of Defense personnel made available to operate equipment for the purpose stated in paragraph (2)(D) may continue to operate such equipment into the land area of the United States in cases involving the pursuit of vessels or aircraft where the detection began outside such land area.
(4) In this subsection:
(A) The term “Federal law enforcement agency” means a Federal agency with jurisdiction to enforce any of the following:
(i) The Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.) or the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act (21 U.S.C. 951 et seq.).
(ii) Any of sections 274 through 278 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324–1328).
(iii) A law relating to the arrival or departure of merchandise (as defined in section 401 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1401) into or out of the customs territory of the United States (as defined in general note 2 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States) or any other territory or possession of the United States.
(iv) Chapter 705 of title 46.
(v) Any law, foreign or domestic, prohibiting terrorist activities.
(B) The term “land area of the United States” includes the land area of any territory, commonwealth, or possession of the United States.
(c) The Secretary of Defense may, in accordance with other applicable law, make Department of Defense personnel available to any Federal, State, or local civilian law enforcement agency to operate equipment for purposes other than described in subsection (b)(2) only to the extent that such support does not involve direct participation by such personnel in a civilian law enforcement operation unless such direct participation is otherwise authorized by law.
(Added Pub. L. 97–86, title IX, § 905(a)(1), Dec. 1, 1981, 95 Stat. 1115, § 374; amended Pub. L. 98–525, title XIV, § 1405(9), Oct. 19, 1984, 98 Stat. 2622; Pub. L. 99–570, title III, § 3056, Oct. 27, 1986, 100 Stat. 3207–77; Pub. L. 99–661, div. A, title XIII, § 1373(c), Nov. 14, 1986, 100 Stat. 4007; Pub. L. 100–418, title I, § 1214(a)(1), Aug. 23, 1988, 102 Stat. 1155; Pub. L. 100–456, div. A, title XI, § 1104(a), Sept. 29, 1988, 102 Stat. 2043; Pub. L. 101–189, div. A, title XII, §§ 1210, 1216(b), (c), Nov. 29, 1989, 103 Stat. 1566, 1569; Pub. L. 102–484, div. A, title X, § 1042, Oct. 23, 1992, 106 Stat. 2492; Pub. L. 105–277, div. B, title II, § 201, Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2681–567; Pub. L. 106–65, div. A, title X, § 1066(a)(4), Oct. 5, 1999, 113 Stat. 770; Pub. L. 109–304, § 17(a)(1), Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1706; renumbered § 274, Pub. L. 114–328, div. A, title XII, § 1241(a)(2), Dec. 23, 2016, 130 Stat. 2497.)