S. 4004 — Protect Law Enforcement Task Forces Act

This section sets forth congressional findings on the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), established in 1982 as the centerpiece of the Attorney General's strategy against transnational organized crime and illicit narcotics using a prosecutor-led, multi-agency approach. The findings describe OCDETF's scale with over 500 federal prosecutors, 1,200 federal agents, and 5,000 state and local police across 9 regions and 19 strike forces; its nationwide strategy emphasizing priority targeting, coordination, intelligence sharing, and directed resourcing; and its return on investment, including $524 million in FY2022 seizures and $423 million in FY2023.

This section defines key terms for purposes of the Act, including (1) covered agency, meaning the Department of the Treasury, Department of Homeland Security, United States Postal Service, Department of Labor, or Department of State; (2) OCDETF, meaning the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces established by and under the direction of the Attorney General and announced on October 14, 1982; (3) OFC, meaning the OCDETF Fusion Center; and (4) Task Forces, meaning the interagency task force established under section 4.

This section directs the Attorney General, acting through the Director of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), to restructure OCDETF not later than 180 days after enactment—in coordination with other Department of Justice agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration, and covered agencies—to combat transnational organized crime and reduce the availability of illicit narcotics in the United States using a prosecutor-led, multi-agency approach. It further requires the Attorney General, in conjunction with heads of covered agencies, to submit to the Senate and House Committees on the Judiciary, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (Senate only), Homeland Security (House only), and Appropriations a joint report on the task forces' successes not later than one year after enactment, in unclassified form to the greatest extent possible (with a classified annex if necessary) and with the unclassified portion posted on the public websites of the Department of Justice and relevant covered agencies.