4
— Information for Law Enforcement Executives
This section
answers frequently asked questions from law enforcement executives about
the Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative, comprehensive tracing,
and ATF’s firearms enforcement programs. What is a crime gun trace?
A crime
gun trace by ATF’s National Tracing Center (NTC) seeks to identify
the Federal firearms licensees (FFLs) who first came in contact with
the firearm, i.e. manufacturer, wholesaler, retailer, and the individual
who first purchased the firearm from the retail dealer. In addition,
for certain FFLs, the NTC may also be able to provide trace information
for firearms resold as used guns and subsequently recovered by law enforcement.
Finally, ATF special agents and their State and local counterparts sometimes
conduct investigative traces which seek to identify the complete chain
of possessors from initial retail purchase to recovery by law enforcement.
What
is the investigative value of a crime gun trace?
A firearms
trace acts as an avenue to obtain additional investigative leads which
may tie the suspect to the firearm itself, and to other crimes otherwise
unknown if the gun had not been traced. The appearance of an FFL or
a first purchaser in association with a crime gun or in association
with multiple crime guns does not show that either the FFL or first
purchaser has committed unlawful acts. Rather, such information may
provide a starting point for further and more detailed investigations.
How
does my agency submit a crime gun trace request to the NTC?
Traces
can be submitted by fax (1-800-578- 7223). In emergencies, trace requests
can be made by telephone (1-800-788-7133). Trace forms can be obtained
by calling the ATF Distribution Center (703-455-7801), by calling your
local ATF office, or through the Internet at www.atf.treas.gov.
Will my department be charged for an NTC trace?
The NTC
will trace any and all crime guns submitted for tracing at no charge.
What
is comprehensive crime gun tracing?
Comprehensive
crime gun tracing occurs when law enforcement authorities in a given
jurisdiction routinely submit the serial number, manufacturer, model,
caliber, and weapon type of all firearms recovered in their jurisdiction
to ATF’s NTC. For more complete analysis, law enforcement authorities
may submit information on the possessor of the firearm (when there is
a posessor), associate (any individual who may be associated with the
possessor at the time of recovery), and recovery date and address.
What
is the investigative value to my department of comprehensive crime gun
tracing?
Large
numbers of traces can be analyzed to develop proactive leads to gun
traffickers, armed offenders, and illegal possessors of firearms. When
the NTC compiles comprehensive crime gun trace information for a law
enforcement agency, it can furnish information relating to the following
questions:
- 1. What
kinds of guns are being recovered in my area?
- 2. What
types of crimes are associated with these recovered crime guns?
- 3. Who
are the dealers that are the source of crime guns recovered in my
area?
- 4.
Who are the individuals supplying firearms to the criminals and juveniles
in my area?
- 5. Where
are the recovery locations?
- 6. Are
the source areas in the county or the State, or from out-of- State?
- 7. Where
should my resources be concentrated to stem the flow of firearms to
my streets?
With this
information, a department working with ATF can maximize enforcement
leads to illegal suppliers and their violent customers and establish
enforcement strategy to reduce juveniles’ and criminals’ illegal
access to guns. Firearms tracing can also lead to improved officer safety,
since it can alert officers to crime gun activity at a specific address,
or by a particular individual.
What
is the best method of comprehensive trace submission?
The Electronic
Trace Submission System (ETSS) is a stand-alone database that enables
ATF Field Offices and other law enforcement organizations to capture
firearm trace related data. This data is then exported from ETSS and
the Batch File is then transferred electronically to the NTC for processing.
Agencies with only a few hundred traces a year can use fax or mail submission
or request ETSS from ATF.
How much does comprehensive tracing cost?
ETSS is
currently available to all ATF Field Offices and can be downloaded at
ATF from the NTC page on the ATF Intraweb at no charge. Upon request,
police departments can upload ETSS by CD-ROM. The largest cost to the
department is likely to be the cost of entering trace information in
person hours.
What
assistance in establishing comprehensive tracing is available from ATF?
Comprehensive
crime gun tracing is free to the requesting jurisdiction. The NTC will
also work with police departments to establish the easiest methods for
them to trace firearms. The Crime Gun Analysis Branch (CGAB) will conduct
a full assessment of a city’s capability for comprehensive tracing
and recommend the steps needed to achieve this goal, including providing
funding to improve the city’s crime gun data collection process.
ATF will also provide the city with a detailed plan of action highlighting
specific activities that each party would perform. ATF anticipates providing
tracing equipment and training assistance to 250 law enforcement agencies
next year, in addition to 12 new cities for the Youth Crime Gun Interdiction
Initiative. ATF also provides training directly and in conjunction with
the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Bureau of
Justice Assistance.
Will
my law enforcement agency receive responses to trace requests directly?
After
a firearm is submitted for tracing, the trace report containing the
results of the trace is returned to the requester.
How
long does a trace response take?
A routine
firearm trace averages 10 and one half business days.
Are there
special provisions for urgent traces? Urgent traces, which must adhere
to certain criteria, are completed within 24 hours. Criteria for an
urgent trace include: assaults, bank robbery, kidnapping, murder/suicide,
rape/sex crimes, terrorist act or threat, undercover investigation,
high profile, needed for court, needed to hold a suspect in custody,
or issuance of a search warrant.
Are
trace responses on paper or electronic?
Currently,
Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies can submit trace
requests electronically, but can only receive trace responses on paper.
The NTC is developing an Electronic Trace Return (ETR) to provide ATF
field offices and law enforcement agencies with electronic trace results
in addition to printed trace reports. In addition, the NTC will respond
to law enforcement organization requests for an extract of a jurisdiction’s
trace information and
provide it on disk.
Can
investigators search available crime gun trace information for investigative
leads?
ATF developed
Online LEAD, a firearms trafficking information system, to enable investigators
to search for criminal patterns in trace information. It has proven
to be a powerful tool in the hands of field investigators. By analyzing
the raw data contained in firearms trace and multiple sales records,
Online LEAD generates a wealth of investigative leads. For example,
ATF and other law enforcement agencies can identify firearms traffickers
by researching both the sources of firearms and their destinations.
For individual jurisdictions, the value of Online LEAD depends on law
enforcement agencies tracing crime guns comprehensively.
Do
State and local law enforcement agencies have access to Online LEAD?
Yes. Online
LEAD is located at ATF field offices and is readily available to local
task forces. The Online LEAD crime gun information system allows ATF
agents and inspectors to access crime gun trace and multiple sales data
directly from their desktop computers using the ATF Intraweb. The data
in the Online LEAD system is updated automatically every 24 hours.
Do
all crime gun traces result in identification of purchasers, and if
not, why submit all recovered firearms for tracing?
Currently
over 50 percent of traces from participating cities result in the identification
of a purchaser, and many of these are relatively recent gun buyers.
Even without purchaser results, most crime gun traces result in useful
information. With gun dealer but not purchaser information, traces can
reveal concentrations of crime guns flowing from particular dealers,
and provide information on the source States and counties of these firearms,
thus helping local law enforcement officials understand whether crime
guns they recover have crossed jurisdictional lines. Other information
supplied, such as possessor, associate, and recovery information, will
allow comprehensive crime gun analysis for your jurisdiction.
Can
ATF’s CGAB assist my agency in specific investigations?
The CGAB,
located at the National Tracing Center, can provide information useful
for officer safety precautions when conducting search warrants, to assist
in an investigation, hold a suspect, or acquire a search warrant. Your
agency can request analysis of crime gun trace data in your jurisdiction
by fax (304-274-4159), email (CrimeGunAnalysisBranch@trac.atf.treas.gov),
or telephone (1-800-788-7133 x498). The CGAB can provide assistance
by running an individual suspect’s name and/or address through
the Firearms Tracing System (FTS) to determine whether any firearms
have been recovered at a particular address in connection with warrant
service, or if an individual at that address has purchased multiple
firearms or been involved in crime gun traces.
Can
the CGAB assist my agency in using all of this jurisdiction’s crime
gun trace information for strategic purposes?
Analysis
of crime gun trace data in your jurisdiction can be provided through
the CGAB and Online LEAD. The CGAB can analyze your crime gun trace
and related multiple sales information to help identify problems in
your jurisdiction. A trace study can be conducted to identify trends
and patterns in crimes involving firearms. The CGAB can provide leads
and proactive referrals on individuals who may be suspected of straw
purchasing or firearms trafficking in your jurisdiction.
Does
the NTC provide crime gun mapping?
The CGAB
can map crime gun recovery locations on a map of your jurisdiction demonstrating
trends and patterns with areas of high amounts of crime gun recovery
locations. Mapping of crime gun recovery locations can be provided most
effectively when a jurisdiction is tracing comprehensively and when
complete recovery address information is supplied.
What
does ATF view as best practices in using crime gun tracing as an investigative
tool?
Best practices
include first ensuring that you are maximizing ATF as a resource by
requesting traces through the NTC on all recovered firearms; ensuring
that possessors of recovered firearms are interviewed to determine their
sources; and ensuring that ATF is the central recipient of all firearms-related
information. You should also use other statistical data as shown in
the annual Crime Gun Trace Reports and, where possible, develop a gun
unit dedicated to investigating firearms offenses and developing strategies
based on the analysis, including working with ATF in the conduct of
joint firearms trafficking investigations.
How
does the FTS relate to the National Integrated Ballistics Identification
Network (NIBIN)?
Crime
gun tracing and ballistics identification are both gun crime investigative
tools. Tracing can be conducted when the crime gun itself is recovered.
If only a cartridge or bullet is recovered, this image can be analyzed
so that it can be tied with previously identified shooters or firearms.
Increasingly, departments are using both tools to assist in solving
gun crimes. Ballistics Imaging technology does not automatically submit
the crime gun to be traced through the National Tracing Center. Over
time, ATF plans to integrate crime gun and ballistics information into
one searchable database.
How
will comprehensive crime gun tracing help reduce youth gun violence?
Comprehensive
crime gun tracing will provide an information platform for developing
the best local investigative strategies. One of the findings of the
Crime Gun Trace Reports is that a large proportion of youth crime guns
are quite new and most likely deliberately and illegally trafficked.
Many crime guns were first sold at retail in-State. The long held presumption
that guns used in crimes were all borrowed from home, stolen, or trafficked
across State lines appears to be incorrect. Comprehensive crime gun
tracing and trace analysis can support both trafficking investigations
aimed at these sources of newer firearms and the deployment of traditional
criminal investigation techniques (debriefings, confidential informants,
turning of arrestees, etc.) aimed at sources of new and older firearms.
Because juveniles have less access to the firearms market than adults,
a strategy that targets their illegal supply can be especially productive.
How
does tracing relate to a strategy of deterring and incarcerating persons
illegally possessing, carrying, or using firearms?
Local
law enforcement authorities are actively searching to find the best
mix of local enforcement operations. ATF is providing new assistance
to that effort by working to institute comprehensive tracing and ballistics
identification capabilities and use these tools to support gun crime
investigations. These tools are providing new opportunities to attack
gun criminals and the illegal gun market, which includes many felons
acting as gun traffickers. At the Federal level, ATF believes that a
balance between attacking the illegal supply of firearms to prohibited
persons, including juveniles and adult felons, and deterring and incarcerating
armed violent offenders, is necessary to reduce violent crime. ATF’s
comprehensive tracing and trace analysis are part of the Boston Gun
Project and Ceasefire, New Jersey’s Project LISA, Richmond’s
Exile, and numerous other violence reduction and law enforcement strategies.
What
are common types of illegal diversion?
Corrupt
Federal firearms licensees, unlicensed sellers, straw purchasers, thieves,
and traffickers in stolen guns, all contribute to the illegal market
in guns.
For more
information, see Following the Gun: Enforcing Federal Laws Against Firearms
Traffickers, Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco
and Firearms, June 2000 at www.atf.treas.gov.