Feds Criticized Over Storefront Gun Sting Operations

A controversial program run by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms was marred by poor management, insufficient training and guidance for agents in the field, as well as a lax organizational culture that failed to place a sufficient emphasis on risk management, according to a report released Thursday by the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General.

The report examined undercover sting operations in six cities where agents set up storefront operations in an effort to get guns off the street and determine where they were coming from.

The inspector general looked at operations in Portland, Oregon; Boston; Milwaukee; Pensacola; St. Louis and Wichita.

According to the report, the agency established 53 of these operations between 2004 and 2013.

The agents would set up a retail business such as a store or tattoo parlor and put the word on the street that they were looking to buy guns,

It was in 2013 that the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published an investigation into the operation there, including agents overpaying for guns, their storefront being burglarized and guns being stolen.

That newspaper investigation led to calls for the inspector general investigation.

The investigation determined that while undercover operations can be important, ATF "failed to devote sufficient attention to how it was managing its undercover storefront operations."

The inspector general examined the Portland operation — named Kraken — that ran from June 2010 until the following March. Officials wanted to know if the operation targeted people with disabilities.

While the investigators determined that in Portland — as well as in some of the other operations — agents did interact with one or two people with disabilities, there was no indication that these people had been targeted.

The investigation did determine that the agents had not been given sufficient training and were unaware there are specific rules about dealing with people with disabilities.

As part of the investigation, 85 people, including agents, prosecutors, ATF leadership and the Chiefs of Police in Milwaukee and St. Louis, and the Sheriff of Escambia County, Florida, were interviewed. Officials also examined more than 8,000 documents, including investigative case files, correspondence, emails and internal memoranda.

The investigation determined that inexperienced agents were being assigned without proper supervision and that officials in headquarters were not paying sufficient attention to who was running the operations.

The inspector general gives ATF 13 recommendations on issues including planning, safety and oversight. The ATF says they agree with all the recommendations.

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