43.

Standards for FBI Investigation—Special Circumstances in Which Investigation May Not Be Required

The following circumstances, not all inclusive, represent examples of situations where investigation should not be initiated: Upon receipt of information involving mass demonstrations, such as riots, marches, parades, student demonstrations, and major confrontations between local law enforcement officers and groups of persons, immediately advise FBIHQ of the details pursuant to instructions set forth in Part I, Section 157 of this manual entitled "Civil Unrest." Furnish the Civil Rights Unit, FBIHQ with a copy of any "Civil Unrest" communications which contain information indicating possible civil rights interest. It is not necessary to initiate a civil rights investigation upon receipt of a letter from a Federal or state prison inmate unless specific criteria are met. Pursuant to an agreement between FBIHQ and DOJ, the following specific criteria have been established and must be met prior to initiation of a civil rights investigation based on an inmate letter alleging brutality: The complainant is the victim or someone with first-hand knowledge of the incident; The complainant indicates the kind of injuries sustained as well as whether the injuries required medical treatment; and Names of witnesses provided. These criteria do not include death cases and only apply to written complaints from inmates of Federal and state prisons. This policy does not apply to prison inmate letters from lesser facilities (i.e., city or county jails). If all of the above criteria are not satisfied, a letter should be directed to the writer requesting the necessary information. If the writer does not respond or the information furnished still does not meet the criteria, conduct no further investigation. The letter(s) should be indexed and filed in the field office 282-0 file, or a control file. Each field office is also authorized to place letters in an appropriate "O" or control file if the writer is obviously mentally deranged and makes no legitimate civil rights complaint, or if the writer makes no specific civil rights complaint. Letters which contain a questionable or borderline civil rights complaint should continue to be resolved by sending a letter to the writer requesting additional specific information. If the information thereafter does not indicate a civil rights violation, there is no need to forward the letter(s) to FBIHQ; however, they must be properly indexed and filed in the field office. Letters which allege a pattern of violations, or which are submitted by a legitimate civil rights organization but do not contain sufficient predicate information, should be referred to FBIHQ.