Various agencies in our state are looking at getting police arrest powers for their fire department fire/arson investigators.  As I am a police officer with my fire department, they are asking me how to obtain this authority.  I think we'll need legislation from the statehouse in order to handle this completely and thoroughly, but my question to all of you is, how does your state handle this?  Many municipal police departments and county sheriff's departments don't have the time or expertise to handle arson fires, and they're not interested.  We need this crime to be handled by people who understand the chemistry of fire, building construction and the other stuff we train on in the fire service.  So with that said, are there states out there who have legislation that allows a fire department to authorize this, and if so how can I get a copy of your statute?  One item to mention is that our State Fire Marshal is not a law enforcement agency; they are a regulatory agency only, so that is not a route we can take at this time.   I know in Georgia there are a couple of dozen municipal departments who's city council has issued an executive order authorizing their arson investigation units as police agencies.  We don't have any legislation that allows an executive order, but we may have to look at something like this.  Any/all suggestions gratefully received.  Thanks, and be safe.