The concept of a Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) was initiated in 1979 as an informal collaboration between the FBI and the New York Police Department to fight bank robberies.  The arrangement was formalized in 1996, when FBI field offices began to enter into agreements with local and state police to create the JTTFs. 

Under this form of cross-jurisdictional cooperation, state and local law enforcement officials remain on the local payroll but are deputized by the FBI and given clearance to access information and work under the direction of the FBI agent-in-charge. Today, every FBI field office in the country has a JTTF and more than 5,000 law enforcement, intelligence, military and civilian members are involved through the JTTFs in field investigations of actual or potential terrorism threats.