Out of the Bubble - Lessons from the ATF

Late last year, a South Bay friend called and asked if I would be interested in signing up with her for the ATF Citizens Academy.

I’d never heard of it, but apparently, the Los Angeles Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF, for short) offers this course to the public at no cost on a somewhat regular basis.

My friend had wanted to apply for years but she didn’t want to do it by herself. She explained it was an eight week course that would take place every Thursday evening at the ATF Field Office in Glendale, with the exception of two field trips off site.

First off, the idea of driving from the South Bay through downtown L.A. to Glendale in rush hour traffic every Thursday night for eight weeks just made my teeth hurt. Second, in my world, Thursday night is the new Saturday – I usually have a couple of events to attend and had no intention of trading my fun-filled evenings out on the town to sit in rush hour traffic on the 405, 110, 5, 2 and/or 134.

I was just opening my mouth to say, “No thanks” when she suggested we carpool…..and mentioned that we’d get to shoot guns, kick in doors and blow shit up. So, what came out of my mouth next was, “When does it start?”

We filled out our applications, submitted them and waited to hear if we were accepted….or had any outstanding warrants. To our delight and some surprise, we were both considered upstanding citizens and made the cut. She volunteered to drive the first night, and after sitting in horrendous traffic for almost two hours and getting lost on the streets of Glendale, we arrived a half hour late and, like all the trouble making kids in school, ended up sitting in the last row.

The Special Agent in Charge (SAC) welcomed our group and gave a short presentation on the history and purpose of the ATF. The following is a brief mission description….

“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 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 ATF’s activities are carried out in conjunction with task forces made up of state and local law enforcement officers.” *

Bear in mind, it is a federal agency, so I was surprised to learn the ATF has just over 4,500 employees, of which about 2,400 are Special Agents. In comparison, the FBI has approximately 34,000 employees, of which about 13,000 are special agents.

Once the introduction was finished, it was time to learn things….

Our first class featured a presentation from a Special Agent that had been working undercover for 28 years. He was about to retire but we were instructed to never, ever, mention his real name. His specialty was infiltrating home invasion gangs. Apparently, home invasions originally began as criminal-on-criminal crimes. Basically, one gang hears about a stash of drugs or guns at another gang’s house and decides to take it by force. You may think, “Who cares? Let the bad guys kill each other.” Right? That was all well and good until a gang member inverted the numbers of an address and invaded the home of innocent civilians. Home invasion robberies eventually blossomed into a free-for-all, with bad guys targeting anyone they deemed worthy.

During our first break of the evening, we were introduced to a few members of the ATF Citizens’ Academy Alumni Association. This group is instrumental in hosting the course year after year and each week, several members were in attendance providing dinner, snacks and beverages for the students, instructors, and any other hungry federal agents roaming the halls.

The second week (I drove but we were late again) we learned about firearms regulations and traces. I learned a lot in this class but the most interesting fact is the gun itself is not a firearm. “In firearms terminology, the receiver is the part of a firearm that houses the operating parts. There are many types and styles of firearm receivers. Under United States law, the receiver is the actual firearm itself, and as such it is the controlled part (without which operation is impossible). Generally, the law views the receiver as that part of a firearm housing that has the serial number upon it.”* So, the firearm is just a section of the gun and Wiki explains it a lot better than I can.

The day before our next class, my ‘friend’ called to tell me she had a family emergency, would be flying back east, might be there for several weeks and would be dropping out of the class. So much for carpooling. I thought about dropping out….for about two seconds. It was all so very fascinating and I was learning so much, I decided to continue on my own. I now knew the route and wouldn’t get lost, which I hoped would counterbalance the traffic nightmare. Right.

The following week, we were to meet on a shooting range shared by the Glendale Police Department and various other agencies. Driving by myself, not having any idea where I was going, I decided to use WAZE….and became so miserably lost, I was an hour late.

It was an exceedingly hot, dry day…..like, 104 degrees hot. As an experienced shooter, I knew to wear a long sleeve shirt and pants along with all the requisite personal protective gear which certainly didn’t help matters. It was sweltering and I was slathered in sweat the minute I stepped out of my air-conditioned car. Yeah, it was HOT, but I was looking forward to what the day would bring.

Upon arrival, I saw several tables lined up and loaded with practically every type of firearm imaginable. Long guns, handguns, 9 millimeters, revolvers, tommy guns, rifles, automatics, semi-automatics, machine guns, submachine guns, sawed-off shotguns – shoot, there was even a pen gun.

After an explanation of what the afternoon would entail, we were introduced to a K9 handler and his high energy canine and watched a demonstration of what happens when a bad guy decides he can outrun a dog. Ouch.

We were then invited to get an up-close-and-personal look at a couple of vehicles: a command truck and an armored vehicle used for rescues and battering into (or out of) buildings. The ATF has some very cool toys, ahem, equipment.

Back on the field, a couple of the instructors demonstrated different firearms and the effect certain types of ammunition have on bullet proof vests. That was an eye opener. One of the larger calibers punched into the vest with such force, it would have ended up well inside your sternum – mind you, it didn’t penetrate the vest. Think about that. Other projectiles ruptured the vest like it was made of cotton candy.

There were dozens of agents and instructors on site to assist us and they separated our class of twenty into two groups. While one group was on the shooting range, the other group would learn how to breach a structure and conduct a raid. This not only involved firearms, but gasmasks and flash bang devices.

The instructors demonstrated how to conduct a breach while we watched and learned. Then they broke us up into smaller groups and taught us the proper technique. Huddle together in a line, guns facing down and out, announce your presence, open or kick the door in, place the flashbang device, clear the immediate space and then proceed down the dreaded hallway. Clearing rooms off a hallway is tricky and requires competent teamwork. We advanced down the hallway going from one room to another, and if the room contained a target, we were to shoot it. I successfully shredded a couple of paper bad guys.

Our group then went out to the range, where we received more instruction on proper gun range etiquette. There were 15 or 20 stations set up with different firearms and we could go from one station to another at will. I shot most of the guns but was partial to the handguns since they offered more of a challenge. Seriously, if you can’t hit a target with a machine gun, you’re just lame.

After all the kicking-in-doors and shooting-stuff-up, we sat down to enjoy a BBQ courtesy of Colombo’s restaurant, a local supporter of the ATF. While we had been in the same class for a few weeks, this was the first real opportunity to have a conversation with some of my classmates. They came from all walks of life and were there for a variety of reasons. There was a gun shop owner, a jewelry store owner, TV producer, a couple of writers and several individuals in the legal field. I think I was the only blogger.

It was a fantastic afternoon – hot, but fantastic – and our hosts couldn’t have been more friendly and encouraging.

The following week we were back in the classroom for a presentation by a Special Agent in the Canine Handler Program and were introduced to a black lab that sniffed out explosives. This dog had a pretty low-key personality which we learned is required for explosive detection (ya think?) and this pup was excellent at his job. We watched several demonstrations and he never missed.

Later on, we heard from an ATF Certified Explosive Specialist and were prepped for an exercise in Blast Reconstruction. He explained the various methods of detonating an explosive and showed us several examples. We were broken up into groups and assigned to different tables where pieces of blast debris were spread out and we had to identify the pieces. I like puzzles of all kinds so I really enjoyed this exercise.

Week five entailed a field trip to the Orange County Regional Computer Forensics Lab where we took a tour of the facility and learned about computer forensics in gang cases. Yes, even gangs use computers for their criminal activities and there is all sorts of information investigators can get from phones, tablets and computers. By the way, you know how on all the TV shows, the police arrive at a crime scene and go right to the computer and open it up? WRONG! In real life, the devices are bagged and brought to the facility where expert technicians do all the handling.

Week six we were back in the classroom for a couple of case studies and communication/teamwork exercises.

The following week, we learned about outlaw motorcycle gang investigations from an undercover agent who was involved in a couple of incidents that received national attention. He shared his experiences and didn’t mince on the gory details. Much of it was tough to listen to and included details you never read, or hear about, in the news.

Our course of study ended with a graduation ceremony – again, hosted by the ATF Citizens’ Academy Alumni Association. Yes, there was cake and we were each awarded a Certificate of Completion.

Just for fun, one of the Agents brought out a bulky suit that members of the bomb squad wear and a couple of my classmates volunteered to be suited up – it takes many hands to get into that thing – and pose for pictures.

The course was an eye-opening experience and I’m glad I completed it. The vast majority of civilians go about their day to day lives without ever understanding just what it takes to keep the populous safe. I was heartened to learn how committed and effective the ATF is, but at the same time, disturbed at the never-ending, brutal, criminal activity they deal with every day. I honestly don’t know how they sleep at night.

If you are interested in learning what really goes on in day-to-day law enforcement on a federal level, you’ll want to sign up for this course.

By the way, the drive was worth every excruciating minute.

If you are interested in attending the next Citizen’s Academy, contact Meredith Davis via email at Meredith.Davis@atf.gov.

*Wiki definition
Photos courtesy of Meredith Davis