Interdepartmental fraternization?

[lazaria91.livejournal.com]

 So it's generally acknowledged in Criminal Minds fandom that dating co-workers is a bit of a no-no. Most of us ignore it but we still use it as plot points or whatever.

It occured to me like five minutes ago that Reid asked JJ out in the first season at Gideon's encouragment. Is he supposed to do that? And Morgan knew about it in the next episode. If interdepartmental fraternization is really not supposed to happen, why were they so casual about it? Thoughts?

Comments

[beatriceeagle.livejournal.com]

I don't know about the real FBI, but at the time, I know that Reid specifically said that dating another agent wasn't against the rules (in the beginning of 1x05 "Broken Mirror").

[agirlnamedluna.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I wondered about that as well just a few days ago, since Garcia made such a big deal out of the fraternization rules yet Gideon encouraged Reid to (try to) date JJ and they would work together all the time while Garcia & Lynch don't even (as far as we know). Doesn't make much sense.
Plus there's that deleted scene where Reid is trying to see whether Morgan wants to date Prentiss or not.

I think the no-no thing stems from the big deal it seemed to be with Garcia and Lynch while the other two occurrences are overlooked.

[borg-princess.livejournal.com]

Lol, they have a moratorium on intra-team profiling, but not dating? 'k, then!

Still, it's cool that they're so casual about it, makes fanfics and shipping more plausible!

And d'aww! I do not remember him asking her out, but that's cute. I never really shipped them, but they were kind of the default couple in my head, it seemed natural.

[goddessdster.livejournal.com]

I believe it's more "Oh, you know what would make this whole Garcia/Kevin thing funny? Have Rossi walk in on them! And then we'll get her all worried about fraternization!" And a bunch of other writers nodded and completely ignored the first season altogether.

Just like they do other times when shit gets wonked.

[fun-french-fri.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking Gideon was pretty sure it would go nowhere.

[thecowboycliche.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I don't think it had anything to do with (I'll use RP terms for lack of anything better) in character decisions, but rather out of character decisions by the writers who decided not to introduce romances between the agents into the show.

I think it was a good idea for the most part and could be justified in character too I think.

But yeah, I think they didn't want this to become Grey's Anatomy basically. (No offense to any Grey's fans, used to watch that show myself). :)

[gartan18.livejournal.com]

I know it's forbidden on the Mentalist, but I think it has more to do with the characters on that show actually wanting to date. I'm sure it hasn't really been mentioned on CM because the people in the BAU don't look at each other in that way and it's not an issue (and as someone above said the writers basically ignore season 1).

That said, I'm still waiting for Reid/Prentiss...In my dreams.

[sodoesrachael.livejournal.com]

Once I poured over an official FBI "rules" document and found no mention of anything pertaining to fraternization at all, let alone it being "forbidden." The only thing that might have been a reference is that 'agents in charge' are not allowed to give gifts to agents they are in charge of. ;P So no presents from Hotch for Christmas. :( lolz.

[doctaj10.livejournal.com]

actually not only is there no rule against it, I know several FBI agents that are married and working at Quantico....(granted not the same department, and it was always known by their superiors)

I think the main rule is that everything has to be kept above board, and special treatment of any kind is forbidden.

[ayajedi.livejournal.com]

In my head it is NOT against the rules because I want Garcia and Morgan to end up happily every after
*yeah yeah I know*

[scotchsour.livejournal.com]

As a slasher, you guys aren't givng same sex couples the same rules? Because, I assume they would have to keep their mouths shut, even from their supervisor. Unless it's Hotch :). Otherwise, the safest thing for my Morgan and Reid is to work in dfferent BAU's.

[innerslytherin]

From what I understand, the rule at the real FBI is that FBI agents can't date FBI Academy students. I am by no means an expert, but this is what I've been told by people who want to be FBI and have studied it more than I have.

[dragonladyk.livejournal.com]

Granted, most of my familiarity with government frat regs are from the military, but from what I understand the basic principles are the same for all federal employees who carry guns (CIA, Navy, Army, Marines, Air Force, FBI, Homeland Security).

1) Don't date/have sex with subordinates who directly report to you. Ever.

2) Don't date above or below your own pay grade. There are two components to determine privileges in federal employment: your title, such as Agent or Technical Analyst, which is determined by what you do and who reports to you (this is called a billet in the military); and your pay grade, which is determined by a combination of seniority and productivity (this is called a rank in the military). Since an E7 can make life hell for an E5 even if the E7 isn't in the E5's "department," E7s are to keep it in their pants with everyone who isn't an E7.

3) If you fulfill rules 1 and 2, don't date in secret. Make sure all superiors are informed and all necessary documentation has been completed, though some branches/sections do forbid dating within the same department/division.

4) If you are in the civilian branches (CIA, FBI, Homeland Security) and your partner is the same sex as you, disregard rule 3 and keep your trap shut because no one in power wants to hear it. If you are in the military branches especially keep your mouth shut because you will be fired (even if that firing has to wait until the men in power find a way to get DADT un-suspended).

5) There are rules, and there is what people do. A supervisor is responsible for administering the regulations for his own jurisdiction. So if your supervisor or both supervisors of both OPs think the rule is stupid and/or are okay with you doing it (such as in the case of a sexual relationship that predates whichever promotion/hiring is causing the problem) and no one higher than them catches wind of it, there's no problem.

In the particular case of JJ and Reid, they are the same rank and they could possibly have been in the same pay grade depending upon how long each had been in the FBI. In that case since Gideon and Hotch wouldn't have had a problem with it, they would have been fine. With Garcia and Kevin, they could have different pay grades and their supervisor could be a lot stricter about inter-departmental fraternization than Hotch (which would make Rossi running his mouth a problem). While Garcia (and, at times, Kevin) may be attached to the BAU, they are not agents. They are civilian support staff: totally different department. Hotch can make a formal recommendation to give Garcia a raise, for example, but he can't actually give her a raise. Or fire her.

And even if the regs did allow two agents to date, there are still ethical concerns that would impact any agent's decision both before, during, and after a liason.

For example, to use my favorite ship, let's use Hotch and Prentiss. Not only is he her supervisor (adding a potential power imbalance), but the point was very strongly made that the BAU is a coveted job and Prentiss wasn't even in the top of the transfer-in list -- indeed, this was the very crux of Strauss's blackmail. Strauss's blackmail isn't established fact outside the team (though there may be rumors), or else Strauss would have been fired. If it were to get around that Hotch and Prentiss were sleeping together, the assumption would be that sleeping with Hotch was how Prentiss got in in the first place, and Prentiss's professional reputation would suffer. Hell, the rumor probably exists already even if only among those who Prentiss jumped in over the top of. Not only would Prentiss the Ambassador's daughter know that, but so would Hotch, and those concerns would factor heavily into their relationship. Or even whether to begin one in the first place. To write otherwise is illogical (which is why I don't read most of the H/P fic out there).

In the case of any homosexual relationships, the world is not the safest of places for homosexuals. Walking around the town holding hands? Wouldn't happen outside of very specific areas. And even then those areas would have to be such where there was no chance they would be recognized.

[kandy-barr.livejournal.com]

I think that in this case, Reid was the "baby" of the group and he needed to get out and experience a world that wasnt printed in 12 pt font on a piece of paper. It was a great opportunity for personal growth.