From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives |
|---|
ATF seal
|
ATF special agent badge
|
ATF flag
|
| Common name | Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms |
|---|
| Abbreviation | ATF |
|---|
| Agency overview |
|---|
| Formed | July 1, 1972
|
|---|
| Preceding agency |
- IRS Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Division
|
|---|
| Employees | 5,101 (2018) |
|---|
| Annual budget | US$1.274 billion (2018) |
|---|
| Jurisdictional structure |
|---|
| Federal agency | United States |
|---|
| Operations jurisdiction | United States |
|---|
| General nature |
|
|---|
| Operational structure |
|---|
| Headquarters | Ariel Rios Federal Building, Washington, D.C.  |
|---|
| Agency executive |
|
|---|
| Parent agency |
|
|---|
| Website |
|---|
| www.atf.gov |
The
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (
ATF) is a
federal law enforcement organization within the
United States Department of Justice.
Its responsibilities include the investigation and prevention of
federal offenses involving the unlawful use, manufacture, and possession
of
firearms and
explosives; acts of
arson and bombings; and illegal trafficking and
tax evasion of
alcohol and
tobacco
products. The ATF also regulates via licensing the sale, possession,
and transportation of firearms, ammunition, and explosives in
interstate commerce.
Many of the ATF's activities are carried out in conjunction with task
forces made up of state and local law enforcement officers, such as
Project Safe Neighborhoods. The ATF operates a unique
fire research laboratory in
Beltsville, Maryland, where full-scale mock-ups of criminal arson can be reconstructed. The agency is led by Regina Lombardo, Acting Director, and Ronald B. Turk, Acting Deputy Director. The ATF has 5,101 employees and an annual budget of $1.274 billion (2019).
History
The seal of the ATF when it was a part of the U.S. treasury department.
Initial flag of ATF as part of the U.S. Department of Justice.
The ATF was formerly part of the
United States Department of the Treasury, having been formed in 1886 as the "Revenue Laboratory" within the Treasury Department's
Bureau of Internal Revenue. The history of ATF can be subsequently traced to the time of the revenuers or "revenoors" and the
Bureau of Prohibition,
which was formed as a unit of the Bureau of Internal Revenue in 1920.
It was made an independent agency within the Treasury Department in
1927, was transferred to the Justice Department in 1930, and became,
briefly, a division of the
FBI in 1933.
When the
Volstead Act, which established
Prohibition in the United States, was
repealed
in December 1933, the Unit was transferred from the Department of
Justice back to the Department of the Treasury, where it became the
Alcohol Tax Unit (ATU) of the Bureau of Internal Revenue. Special Agent
Eliot Ness and several members of
The "Untouchables",
who had worked for the Prohibition Bureau while the Volstead Act was
still in force, were transferred to the ATU. In 1942, responsibility for
enforcing federal firearms laws was given to the ATU.
In the early 1950s, the Bureau of Internal Revenue was renamed "
Internal Revenue Service" (IRS),
and the ATU was given the additional responsibility of enforcing
federal tobacco tax laws. At this time, the name of the ATU was changed
to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division (ATTD).
In 1968, with the passage of the
Gun Control Act,
the agency changed its name again, this time to the Alcohol, Tobacco,
and Firearms Division of the IRS and first began to be referred to by
the initials "ATF". In Title XI of the Organized Crime Control Act of
1970, Congress enacted the Explosives Control Act, 18 U.S.C.A. Chapter
40, which provided for close regulation of the explosives industry and
designated certain arsons and bombings as federal crimes. The Secretary
of the Treasury was made responsible for administering the regulatory
aspects of the new law, and was given jurisdiction over criminal
violations relating to the regulatory controls. These responsibilities
were delegated to the ATF division of the IRS. The Secretary and the
Attorney General were given concurrent jurisdiction over arson and
bombing offenses. Pub.L. 91-452, 84 Stat. 922, October 15, 1970.
In 1972 ATF was officially established as an independent bureau
within the Treasury Department on July 1, 1972, this transferred the
responsibilities of the ATF division of the IRS to the new Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.
Rex D. Davis
oversaw the transition, becoming the bureau's first director, having
headed the division since 1970. During his tenure, Davis shepherded the
organization into a new era where federal firearms and explosives laws
addressing violent crime became the primary mission of the agency.
However, taxation and other alcohol issues remained priorities as ATF
collected billions of dollars in alcohol and tobacco taxes, and
undertook major revisions of the federal wine labeling regulations
relating to use of appellations of origin and varietal designations on
wine labels.
In the wake of the
terrorist attack on the
World Trade Center and
the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, President
George W. Bush signed into law the
Homeland Security Act of 2002. In addition to the creation of the
Department of Homeland Security, the law shifted ATF from the Department of the Treasury to the
Department of Justice.
The agency's name was changed to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms,
and Explosives. However, the agency still was referred to as the "ATF"
for all purposes. Additionally, the task of collection of federal tax
revenue derived from the production of tobacco and alcohol products and
the regulatory function related to protecting the public in issues
related to the production of alcohol, previously handled by the Bureau
of Internal Revenue as well as by ATF, was transferred to the newly
established
Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), which remained within the Treasury Department. These changes took effect January 24, 2003.
Activities
1972–2000
Complaints
regarding the techniques used by ATF in their effort to generate
firearm cases led to hearings before Congressional committees in the
late 1970s and 1980s. At these hearings, evidence was received from
citizens who had been charged by ATF, from experts who had studied ATF,
and from officials of the bureau itself. A Senate subcommittee report
stated, "Based upon these hearings it is apparent that ATF enforcement
tactics made possible by current federal firearms laws are
constitutionally, legally, and practically reprehensible."
The Subcommittee received evidence that ATF primarily devoted its
firearms enforcement efforts to the apprehension, upon technical
malum prohibitum
charges, of individuals who lack all criminal intent and knowledge.
Evidence received demonstrated that ATF agents tended to concentrate
upon collector's items rather than "criminal street guns".
In hearings before ATF's Appropriations Subcommittee, however,
testimony was submitted estimating that 75 percent of ATF gun
prosecutions were aimed at ordinary citizens with no criminal intent. The
Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1986 addressed some of the abuses noted in the 1982 Senate Judiciary Subcommittee report.
The
Ruby Ridge Siege began in June 1990.
Randy Weaver
sold two unregistered short barrel shotguns to Kenneth Fadeley, an ATF
informant. This transaction was recorded and presented to the court.
Weaver refused to face his accusers and became a Fugitive from justice.
He maintained the barrels were a legal length, but after Fadeley took
possession, the shotguns were later found to be shorter than allowed by
federal law, requiring registration as a
short-barreled shotgun
and payment of a $200 tax. ATF filed firearms charges against Weaver,
but offered to drop the charges if he would become an informant. After
Weaver refused to cooperate, ATF passed on false information about
Weaver to other agencies that became part of a misleading file that
profiled Weaver as having explosive booby traps, tunnels and bunkers at
his home; growing marijuana; having felony convictions; and being a bank
robber. (At his later trial, the gun charges were determined to be
entrapment
and Weaver was acquitted.) However, Weaver missed a February 20, 1991,
court date because U.S. Probation Officer Richins mistakenly told Weaver
that the trial date was March 20, and the
US Marshals Service
(USMS) was charged with bringing Weaver in. Weaver remained with his
family in their mountain top cabin. On August 21, 1992, a USMS
surveillance team was fired up, resulting in a shootout that killed US
Marshal Bill Degan, Samuel Weaver and Weaver's pet dog. FBI
HRT
surrounded the cabin. The next day, Lon Horiuchi (an FBI HRT sniper)
fired at Weaver, missing and killing Weaver's wife. A subsequent
Department of Justice review and a Congressional hearing raised several
questions about the actions of ATF, USMS, USAO and FBI HRT and the
mishandling of intelligence at the USMS and FBI headquarters. The Ruby Ridge incident has become a lightning rod for legal activists within the gun rights community.
On May 1, 1992, 50 ATF agents were summoned upon to provide extra support for local police departments in
Los Angeles County in response to the ongoing
Rodney King riots. The next day, the ATF activated its Special Response Team
tactical unit to escort firefighters in high-risk areas, pair up with local police in protecting certain establishments, and execute
search warrants
for looted firearms. During the riots, a total of 4,690 firearms were
looted and stolen; over the next 10 days, ATF recovered few more than
200 firearms.
ATF was involved in the
Waco Siege against the
Branch Davidian religious sect near
Waco, Texas,
on February 28, 1993. ATF agents, accompanied by the press, conducted a
raid to execute a federal search warrant on the sect's compound, known
as
Mt. Carmel.
The Branch Davidians were alerted to the upcoming warrant execution but
ATF raid leaders pressed on, despite knowing the advantage of surprise
was lost. (ATF Director Steve Higgins had promised Treasury Under
Secretary for Enforcement
Ron Noble
that the Waco raid would be canceled if the ATF undercover agent Robert
Rodriguez reported that the element of surprise had been lost.) The
resulting exchange of gunfire killed six Davidians and four ATF agents.
FBI HRT later took over the scene and a 51-day stand-off ensued, ending
on April 19, 1993, after the complex caught fire. The follow-up
investigation revealed the bodies of seventy-six people including twenty
children inside the compound. A grand jury found that the deaths were
suicides or otherwise caused by people inside the building. Shortly
after the raid, the bureau's director, Stephen E. Higgins, retired early
from his position. In December 1994, two ATF supervisory agents,
Phillip J. Chojnacki and Charles D. Sarabyn, who were suspended for
their roles in leading the Waco raid were reinstated, with full back pay
and benefits (with a demotion) despite a Treasury Department report of
gross negligence. The incident was removed from their personnel files.
Timothy McVeigh cited Ruby Ridge and Waco Siege as his motivation for the
Oklahoma City Bombing, which took place on April 19, 1995, exactly two years after the end of the Waco Siege.
Until the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Oklahoma City bombing was the
deadliest terrorist attack in the history of the United States, and
remains the deadliest incident of domestic terrorism in the country's
history. McVeigh was executed for this mass murder by lethal injection
on June 11, 2001 at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute,
Indiana.
2000–present
Flag of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
The ATF was criticized for poor planning leading to the
James Beck Shootout
in 2001, which resulted in the immediate deaths of a deputy sheriff as
well as the suspect, and the later suicide of ATF agent Jeff Ryan.
Between May 2004 and August 2005, ATF agents, in conjunction with
Virginia state, county, and city police, conducted an operation at
eight gun shows in the Richmond area to reduce straw purchases for
criminals.
In a February 2006 House subcommittee hearing, the show's owner said:
"People were approached and discouraged from purchasing guns. Before
attempting to purchase, they were interrogated and accused of being in
the business without a license, detained in police vehicles, and gun
buyer's homes were visited by police, and much more." A gun salesman testified that he was singled out for harassment by two ATF agents.
The owner of a gun shop testified that he thought agents questioned
female customers too often. He said that times had changed and more
women were shopping for guns, adding: "It seems, however, to be the
prevailing opinion for law enforcement at the gun show that any woman
who brings a male friend for advice or support must be making a straw
purchase."
A private investigator said the NRA contracted her to go to Richmond to
investigate dozens of complaints by NRA members of "massive law
enforcement presence, residence checks, and minority buyers being
followed, pulled over and their legally purchased guns seized."
The purchasers were compelled by an ATF letter to appear at ATF offices
to explain and justify their purchases. ATF stated this was a pilot
program that ATF was planning to apply throughout the country. In
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, ATF agents visited a gun show's customers'
homes a week after the show, demanding to see the buyers' guns or sale
paperwork and arresting those who could not—or would not—comply.
A September 2008 report by the Justice Department's
Office of the Inspector General
determined that 76 firearms and 418 laptop computers were lost, stolen
or missing from ATF, after a 59-month audit period between 2002 and
2007.
In May 2008, William Newell, Special Agent in charge of the
Phoenix ATF Office, said: "When 90 percent-plus of the firearms
recovered from these violent drug cartels are from a U.S. source, we
have a responsibility to do everything we can to stem the illegal flow
of these firearms to these thugs."
According to the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General,
"ATF told the OIG that the 90-percent figure ... could be misleading
because it applied only to the small portion of Mexican crime guns that
are traced." Under operations
"Fast and Furious,"
"Too Hot to Handle," and "Wide Receiver," indictments show that the
Phoenix ATF Office, over protests from the gun dealers and some ATF
agents involved and without notifying Mexican authorities, facilitated
the sale of over 2,500 firearms (
AK-47 rifles,
FN 5.7mm pistols, and
.50 caliber rifles) to traffickers destined for Mexico. Many of these same guns are being recovered from crime scenes in Arizona and throughout Mexico,
which is artificially inflating ATF's eTrace statistics of U.S. origin
guns seized in Mexico. One gun is alleged to be the weapon used by a
Mexican national to murder Customs and Border Protection Agent Brian
Terry on December 14, 2010. ATF and DOJ denied all allegations. After
appearing at a Congressional Hearing, three supervisors of Fast and
Furious (William G. McMahon, Newell, and David Voth) were reported as
being transferred and promoted by ATF. ATF denied the transfers were promotions.
In June 2011, Vince Cefalu, an ATF special agent for 24 years who in December 2010 exposed ATF's
Project Gunrunner
scandal, was notified of his termination. Two days before the
termination, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), chairman of the House Committee
on Oversight and Government Reform, sent a letter to the ATF warning
officials not to retaliate against whistleblowers. Cefalu's dismissal
followed allegations that ATF retaliates against whistleblowers. ATF
spokesman Drew Wade denied that the bureau is retaliating but declined
to comment about Cefalu's case.
In 2015, a proposal by the ATF to prohibit sales of certain
.223 cartridges was dropped following a negative response from the public and the legislature.
Violent crime
Since
2001, ATF Agents have recommended over 10,000 felons every year for
federal prosecution for firearms possession through the
Project Safe Neighborhoods
framework. In PSN's first year, 2001–2002, over 7,700 of these cases
resulted in convictions with an average sentence of over five years per
defendant. This number had risen to over 12,000 prosecutions in FY 2007. The annual FBI
Uniform Crime Report
(UCR) demonstrated that throughout the decade of 2001–2010, the
reduction of violent crime offenses in United States Districts with
dedicated Project Safe Neighborhood Agents and United States Attorneys
far outperformed the national average. An outgrowth of the Project Safe Neighborhoods framework was the creation of
Violent Crime Impact Teams which worked proactively to identify, disrupt,
arrest and
prosecute the most violent criminals through innovative technology,
analytical investigative resources and an integrated
federal,
state and local
law enforcement strategy.
Generally, about 90% of the cases referred by ATF for prosecution
each year are for firearms, violent crime, and narcotics offenses.
Through the first half of 2011, ATF (with fewer than 2,000 active
Special Agents) had recommended 5,203 cases for prosecution.
This yields an average of 5.0 cases per agent per year. For comparison,
the FBI (with slightly more than 13,000 active Special Agents) had
recommended 8,819 cases for prosecution, for an average of 1.2 cases per agent per year.
Personnel
ATF, as a bureau, consists of several different groups that each have their own respective role, commanded by a director.
Special Agents
are empowered to conduct criminal investigations, defend the United
States against international and domestic terrorism, and work with state
and local police officers to reduce violent crime on a national level.
ATF Special Agents may carry firearms, serve warrants and subpoenas
issued under the authority of the United States and make arrests without
warrant for any offense against the United States committed in their
presence, or for any felony cognizable under the laws of the United
States if they have reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be
arrested has committed or is committing such felony
18 U.S.C. § 3051. Specifically, ATF Special Agents have lead investigative authority on any
federal crime committed with a firearm or explosive, as well as investigative authority over regulatory referrals and
cigarette smuggling.
All ATF Special Agents require a Top Secret (TS) security clearance,
and in many instances, need a higher level, TS/SCI/SAP (Top
Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information/Special Access Programs)
clearance. In order to get a security clearance, all potential ATF
Special Agents must pass a detailed series of Single Scope Background
Investigations (SSBI). ATF Special Agents consistently rank at the top
or near the top of all federal agencies in cases referred for
prosecution, arrests made, and average time per defendant on an annual
basis. Special Agents currently comprise around 2,400 of the Agency's approximately 5,000 personnel.
Industry Operations Investigators (IOI'S)
are the backbone of the ATF regulatory mission. Their work is primarily
investigative and routinely involves contact with, and interviews of,
individuals from all walks of life and all levels of industry and
government. Investigations and inspections pertain to the industries and
persons regulated by ATF (e.g., firearms and explosives users, dealers,
importers, exporters, manufacturers, wholesalers, etc.); and are under
the jurisdiction of the Gun Control Act, National Firearms Act, Arms
Export Control Act, Organized Crime Control Act of 1970 and other
Federal firearms and explosives laws and regulations.
The remainder of the bureau is personnel in various staff and
support roles from office administrative assistants to intelligence
analysts, forensic scientists, legal counsel, and technical specialists.
Additionally, ATF relies heavily on state and local task force officers
to supplement the Special Agents and who are not officially part of the
ATF roster.
Training
Basic
special agent training for new hires consists of a two-part training
program. The first part is the Criminal Investigator Training Program
(CITP) provided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in
Glynco, Georgia.
The CITP provides fundamental training in the techniques, concepts and
methodologies of conducting criminal investigations. Some of the
subjects covered in the training include training in firearms, physical
techniques, driving techniques, handcuffing, interviewing, surveillance,
crime scene management, photography, basic firearms training and
federal court procedures.
The CITP lasts approximately 12 weeks. Each class consists of 48
students, of whom approximately half are ATF trainees. The remaining
portion of the CITP class consists of students from other federal
agencies.
The second part of training is the Special Agent Basic Training
(SABT), which is conducted at FLETC. The SABT for special agent trainees
is a demanding and intensive training program that covers a wide range
of disciplines including firearms and ammunition identification;
firearms trafficking; report writing, interviewing techniques;
alcohol/tobacco diversion investigations; explosives and fire/arson
investigations; firearms and tactical training, close quarter
countermeasures; field operations, undercover techniques; and physical
conditioning. The SABT consists of approximately 15 weeks of training
with a class of 24 student trainees.
Industry Operations Investigator Basic Training (IOIBT) is a
comprehensive 10-week program designed to train newly hired industry
operations investigators (IOI) in the basic knowledge, skills, and
abilities they need to effectively conduct inspections of firearms and
explosives licensees and permittees, as well as provide assistance to
other Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies. Successful
completion of IOIBT is mandatory in order for the newly hired IOI to
maintain their employment.
Firearms
Members of ATF special agent ranks are issued the
Glock 19M
as their primary duty weapon and are trained in the use of, and issued,
certain rifles and shotguns. The ATF Special Response Team (SRT) is
armed with
Colt M4 assault rifles and other firearms.
Organization
The ATF is organized as follows:
- Director
- Chief of Staff
- Chief Counsel
- Deputy Director (Chief Operating Officer)
- Office of Field Operations
- Office of Human Resources and Professional Development
- Office of Management
- Office of Enforcement Programs and Services
- Office of Professional Responsibility and Security Operations
- Office of Public and Governmental Affairs
- Office of Science and Technology
- Office of Strategic Intelligence and Information
Field divisions
The
ATF has several field offices across the nation in major cities. Those
cities are: Atlanta, Georgia; Baltimore, Maryland; Boston,
Massachusetts; Charlotte, North Carolina; Chicago, Illinois; Columbus,
Ohio; Dallas, Texas; Denver, Colorado; Detroit, Michigan; Houston,
Texas; Kansas City, Missouri; Los Angeles, California; Louisville,
Kentucky; Miami, Florida; Nashville, Tennessee; New Orleans, Louisiana;
New York City; Newark, New Jersey; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Phoenix,
Arizona; Salt Lake City, Utah; San Francisco, California; Seattle,
Washington; St. Paul, Minnesota; Tampa, Florida; and Washington, D.C.
Also there are field offices in different countries such as Canada,
Mexico, El Salvador, Colombia, Iraq, and in the Caribbean.
Regulation of firearms
ATF investigators display weapons seized for violations of the
Gun Control Act
Firearms tracing
ATF's Comprehensive Crime Gun Tracing Initiative is the largest operation of its kind in the world. In FY07, ATF's
National Tracing Center
processed over 285,000 trace requests on guns for over 6,000 law
enforcement agencies in 50 countries. ATF uses a Web-based system, known
as
eTrace,
that provides law enforcement agencies with the capability to securely
and electronically send trace requests, receive trace results, and
conduct basic trace analysis in real time. Over 2,000 agencies and more
than 17,000 individuals currently use eTrace, including over 33 foreign
law enforcement agencies. Gun tracing provides information to federal,
state, local and foreign law enforcement agencies on the history of a
firearm from the manufacturer (or importer), through the distribution
chain, to the first retail purchaser. This information is used to link
suspects to firearms in criminal investigations, identify potential
traffickers, and detect in-state, interstate, and international patterns
in the sources and types of crime guns. These results are then used to
help the courts prosecute the offenders and attempt to clamp down on
firearm crime.
Firearms ballistic tracing
ATF
provides investigative support to its partners through the National
Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN), which allows federal,
state, and local law enforcement agencies to image and compare crime gun
evidence. NIBIN currently has 203 sites. In FY07, NIBIN's 174 partner
agencies imaged more than 183,000 bullets and casings into the database,
resulting in over 5,200 matches that provided investigative leads.
Regulation of explosives
With the passage of the
Organized Crime Control Act
(OCCA) in 1970, ATF took over the regulation of explosives in the
United States, as well as prosecution of persons engaged in criminal
acts involving explosives. One of the most notable investigations
successfully conducted by ATF agents was the tracing of the vehicle used
in the
World Trade Center 1993 bombings, which led to the arrest of persons involved in the conspiracy.
ATF also enforces provisions of the Safe Explosives Act, passed
after 9/11 to restrict the use/possession of explosives without a
federal license to use them. ATF is considered to be the leading federal
agency in most bombings that occur within the U.S., with exception to
bombings related to international terrorism (investigated by the FBI).
ATF currently trains the U.S. military in evidence recovery
procedures after a bombing. All ATF Agents are trained in post-blast
investigation, however ATF maintains a cadre of approximately 150 highly
trained explosive experts known as Certified Explosives Specialists
(CES). ATF/CES Agents are trained as experts regarding Improvised
Explosive Devices (IED's), as well as commercial explosives. ATF Agents
work closely with state and local Bomb Disposal Units (bomb squads)
within the United States.
Director confirmation controversy
In 2006, the
National Rifle Association (NRA) lobbied
U.S. Representative F. James Sensenbrenner to add a provision to the
Patriot Act reauthorization that requires
Senate confirmation of ATF director nominees. (Prior to that, ATF directors were simply appointed by the administration.)
After that, the NRA lobbied against and effectively blocked every
presidential nominee, leaving the agency in the hands of acting
directors for seven years.
In 2007, Bush nominated
Mike Sullivan for the position, a U.S. Attorney from Boston with a good reputation, but Republican Sens.
Larry Craig and
Michael D. Crapo,
both from Idaho, blocked his confirmation after complaints from an
Idaho gun dealer. In 2010, President Barack Obama nominated Andrew
Traver, head of the ATF's Denver division, to fill the top spot, but the
Senate never held his confirmation hearings. The NRA strongly opposed Traver's nomination. Ultimately
B. Todd Jones was nominated by Obama and confirmed by the Senate as permanent ATF director on July 31, 2013.
Directors
A list of ATF directors since becoming a Bureau on July 1, 1972:
.svg)
.svg)
