At the ATF, Taking on Gun Traffickers, Gangs, and Violence Crime
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives doesn't bust many bootleggers or rum-runners these days. Instead, the federal agents who once called Eliot Ness one of their own are focused on weapons trafficking and violent crime. Michael Sullivan, who just completed his second year as the acting director of ATF, also heads efforts against crimes like identity theft, Internet auction fraud, and terrorism. The agency even sends agents to Iraq and Afghanistan to lend their explosives expertise to investigations there. Sullivan spoke with U.S. News about the agency's anticrime efforts. Excerpts:
Are gun trafficking cases like drug cases?
The toughest investigations to conduct at the local and federal level are firearms trafficking cases. To begin with, there are Second Amendment rights, and as a federal law enforcement agency, we'll zealously guard those rights. Drug investigations, in many ways, are a lot easier because in most instances, from beginning to end, the drugs are illegal. Guns, the vast majority of them, enter commerce legally, are used lawfully, and possessed legally. It's like that proverbial needle in the haystack trying to identify those few folks who put them into commerce illegally—the person who shows up to buy a gun for their brother or boyfriend who is a felon.
Ness famously brought in accountants to get Al Capone. What is ATF using today?
Forensics are the main element—blood or ballistics evidence, where we have the ability to link crime scenes to one another, even over the course of years. New investigations get solved faster, and old ones can be closed, too. Despite the advancements, I think the technology is still underutilized at the state and local level, either because of resource limitations or some officers not really appreciating the value of what they have.
Even with the numerous spinoffs of TV's CSI, forensics are still underutilized?
Some communities do very little ballistics imaging work. But that ballistics evidence, if it was exploited, could link to another crime scene potentially and solve another case. Or at least provide some additional leads for an investigation that remains open. It would be nice to see every single weapon that's recovered by police traced.
Studies show that crackdowns on gun runners have pushed criminals to buy guns from fewer dealers. How does that impact your cases?
Drugs come in truckloads—cocaine and heroin and marijuana. Illegal guns move one at a time, and the cases can be difficult because they don't have a lot of jury appeal. Weapons dealers don't have the risk of drug dealers, the protection is low, and the punishment is not that severe. As a result, a lot of people are willing to take the risks. One of our best partners is licensed dealers—the people that are out there lawfully conducting a business. They are, in many ways, the eyes and the ears of what's happening on the criminal side.
Why is violent crime at nearly historic lows while gang crime is rising?
Especially over the last decade, you're seeing younger folks getting engaged in gangs and the associated violence. A lot of people struggle with what attracts young people to gangs and gang life, and there are a lot of things missing in some young people's lives that contribute to their decisions. But that's not always the case. There are some folks who come from very stable environments who find themselves involved in gang activity.
Can violent crime levels fall lower?
It's possible, yes. With more resources, you get more results. And if you look at it from an agent-by-agent perspective, we do a tremendous number of investigations that result in significant referrals for federal prosecutions. ATF refers more people for federal prosecution per agent than any other federal law enforcement agency.
What does ATF bring to gang cases?
We've been able to go undercover in some of these longer-term, sophisticated gang investigations, where we send agents to penetrate an outlaw motorcycle gang, for instance. We obviously bring some technology to the table as well, including the ballistic evidence and gun tracing evidence. Then there's electronic surveillance. Gangs operate at all hours of the day and all hours of the week, and we have to be prepared to do the exact same thing. That means that we give up weekends, and we give up holidays, and, you know, family time in order to have a successful investigation. And our partners at the state and local level are doing exactly the same.
Reader Comments
ATF & Lawful gunowners need Sullivan
The only Senators not endorsing Sullivan to be the Director of ATF were from Idaho. Senator Larry 'foot tapper" Craig made every effort to distort Sullivan's record the US Atty in Mass. He purported Sullivan to be anti-gun, when he is actually anti-violent crime. Sullivan is a solid Republican, who understands lawful gun ownership, the 2nd amendment, protecting citizen's rights to own guns, but more importantly he understands the need to investigate and prosecute violent armed criminals, armed drug dealers, bombmakers, arsonists, and those defrauding millions in tax dollars to fund violence and terrorism. President Obama would be wise to push for Michael Sullivan to be the Director of ATF during his Presidency, in keeping with his promise to be more bipartisan in his appointments. For those who bash Sullivan, imagine ATF & the 2nd amendment with a liberal gun-hater as the Director, instead of a gun-owner like Sullivan. The NRA understands that Sullivan is good for lawful gunowners and ATF. ATF as an agency isn't going to be abolished as some extremist desire, and firearm/explosive/arson laws aren't going to be overturned to apease a handful of disgruntled extremist, particularly those who have lost their rights to vote and own firearms. ATF is a small agency that has a big impact on violent crime. Most people will never encounter this agency, but they might know from articles like the US News report about the efforts of such a small agency. ATF should keep Sullivan at the helm!
Response to Hope in TN
If you know of a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, call your local ATF office. You can find contact information at www.atf.gov
BATFU
waypasthadenough and Len Savage are right. BATFE screws up on a regular basis and when they do and realize it, do they reverse course and apologize? No, stay the course, harass, intimidate, make up evidence then declare it so secret as to not be available to the defense or the judge, ignore exculpatory evidence, ad infinitum. Hmm,it appears this weapon we confiscated and imprisoned its owner on the belief that it was an illegal full auto is actually a run of the mill semi-auto that suffered from an episode of slam fire (a malfunction that can be the product of ammo with a soft primer). Well, if we rig it up with some shoe laces and paper clips MacGyver style we can force it to do things never intended and fire full auto therefore the defendant is guilty as charged *high fives all around*. It looks like this very cooperative federally licensed and legal gun dealer abbreviated the name of a city. Let's call that a willful violation and take away his license (his livelihood) and take him to court. Lets also tell him to organize his records one way and then later tell him that is the wrong way and call that a willful violation too so we have more evidence *more high fives*. Isn't it fun to crush the peasants?
BATFE may do some good as well as TexasGunOwner and Keith suggested, although Keith obviously understands that it can and will be the tool of choice for liberal anti-gun ideologues. However, when there are so many blatant examples of malfeasance and corruption, at very least we need to clean house in the leadership and install leaders that appreciate the Rule of Law and the Constitution specifically its provisions for the right to bear arms and the right to due process. The idea that BATFE goes out of its way to zealously defend the Second Amendment is laughable.
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