Investigative Assistance for Violent Crimes Act

Investigative Assistance for Violent Crimes Act of 2012

Long title	An Act to amend title 28, United States Code, to clarify the statutory authority for the longstanding practice of the Department of Justice of providing investigatory assistance on request of State and local authorities with respect to certain serious violent crimes, and for other purposes.
Acronyms (colloquial)	IAVCA
Enacted by	the 112th United States Congress
Citations
Public law	Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 112–265 (text) (PDF)
Codification
Titles amended	28
U.S.C. sections amended	530C
Legislative history
Introduced in the House by Trey Gowdy (R‑SC) on June 1, 2011 Passed the House on September 12, 2011 (358 to 9) Passed the Senate on December 17, 2012 (unanimous) Signed into law by President Barack Obama on January 14, 2013

Investigative Assistance for Violent Crimes Act of 2012 (IAVCA) is a federal law in the United States that clarifies the statutory authority for federal law enforcement agencies to provide investigatory assistance to the States. The Act provided that, upon request from a state or local government, federal law enforcement may assist in the investigation of violent crime occurring in non-federal, public places. The Act did not create any new crimes but rather mandated a definition, across federal law enforcement agencies, of "mass killings" as a killing of three or more victims in the same incident. The Act enabled the Federal Bureau of Investigation to develop a program of research and training to address active shooter incidents.