What is Naval Criminal Investigative Service?
[[File:UnitedStatesNavalCriminalInvestigativeServiceSeal.jpg|thumb|right|200px|{{Center|NCIS Official seal since 2012}}]] The '''United States Naval Criminal Investigative Service''' ('''NCIS''') is the primary [[law enforcement]] agency of the [[United States Department of the Navy]] (DON). It [[Criminal investigation|investigates]] activities concerning [[crime]]s against or by [[United States Navy]] and [[United States Marine Corps|U.S. Marine Corps]] personnel. It also is tasked with [[national security]], [[counter-intelligence]], and [[counter-terrorism]] cases. NCIS is the successor organization to the former '''Naval Investigative Service''' ('''NIS'''). == Organization == About half of the 2,500 NCIS [[employee]]s are [[civilian]] [[special agent]]s. They are trained to carry out a wide variety of assignments at locations around the [[world]]. NCIS special agents are [[wikt:armed|armed]] [[federal police|federal law enforcement]] investigators. They frequently [[wikt:coordinate|coordinate]] with other [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. government agencies]]. NCIS special agents are supported by other employees. These include [[wikt:analyst|analyst]]s and [[expert]]s in [[forensics]], [[surveillance]], surveillance [[countermeasure]]s, [[Computer crime|computer investigations]], [[physical security]], and [[polygraph]] examinations. At times NCIS will use outside agencies. For example, they have used the [[Smithsonian Institution]] to help identify [[Skeleton|skeletal remains]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/what-is-it-really-like-to-work-at-the-ncis-5958484/?no-ist |title=What Is It Really Like to Work at the NCIS?|author=Leah Binkovitz |date=20 March 2013 |website= |publisher=Smithsonian.com|accessdate=1 April 2015}}</ref> == History == NCIS traces its roots to Navy Department General Order 292 of 1882, signed by [[William H. Hunt]], [[Secretary of the Navy]]. This established the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] (ONI). At first the ONI was taske