Pennsylvania State Police Intellectual Property Enforcement Program

The Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) is a fully accredited law enforcement agency, which provides police services to all areas of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.  Within the Department’s Bureau of Criminal Investigations is the Special Investigations Division.  Within the Special Investigations Division is the Organized Crime Task Force (OCTF).  Members of the OCTF are assigned to offices strategically located throughout the Commonwealth.  These members receive specialized training and education dedicated to in-depth investigations, including investigations involving the proliferation of items associated with Intellectual Property Crimes.   

In 2020, the PSP engaged in an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with the Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), as part of a joint investigation of Intellectual Property Theft, Counter-Proliferation, and other iterations of import/export of counterfeit goods, prohibited items, and related crimes designed to cause harm to the economy and citizens of the United State of America and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.  This agreement allows the PSP, as one of the largest agencies in the country, to provide dedicated troopers for investigations into Intellectual Property Crimes (IPC) with joint efforts from their federal partners. 

The PSP has established relationships with other law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and private industry relative these crimes.  Given the growing number of patents, trademarks, etc., there is significant need for enforcement to protect citizens and companies.

The goal for this project is to obtain program funds to maintain a full-time PSP OCTF program for IPC enforcement.  Objectives include:

Establish operational procedures and enhance existing tracking mechanisms that will collect data on the number of IPC investigations handled by the IPC Task Force, arrests of suspects, and seizures of products, currency, and assets.  
Implement subject matter training for the IPC Task Force members, as well as other PSP Troopers, and other law enforcement officers who routinely assist the OCTF in IPC investigations. 
Continue to cooperatively work with other federal, state, and municipal law enforcement, as well as prosecutors, in IPC-related investigations.
Continue and expand upon relationships with the private sector, such as private industry and companies that are typically victims of these crimes, as well as private investigators who specialize in IPC investigations.