ATF Names New Special Agent in Charge to Head New York Office
Joseph Anarumo to Lead Fight Against Violent Crime
New York — The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) today announced the appointment of Joseph Anarumo, Jr., as the new special agent in charge (SAC) of its New York Field Division. A native New Yorker, Mr. Anarumo is a graduate of Susan Wagner High School on Staten Island and received his bachelor’s degree in communications from St. John’s University.
Mr. Anarumo joined ATF as a special agent in 1991and was assigned to the New York Field Division’s ATF/ New York Police Department Joint Firearms Task Force, where he worked on numerous firearms and narcotics trafficking investigations including continuing criminal enterprise and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act investigations. In his capacity as a field special agent, he worked as both an undercover and case agent.
ATF is the federal government’s primary agency tasked with combating violent crime and one of our principal goals is to keep firearms out of the hands of violent criminals,
said Mr. Anarumo.
Mr. Anarumo’s appointment brings a new and refreshed vigor to the pursuit of criminals who use illegal firearms as well as armed violent gang members across the state.
Prior to this new appointment, Mr. Anarumo was the assistant special agent in charge of the Miami Field Division, where he oversaw the day–to–day operations of eleven field offices and four satellite offices for southern Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
In his new position as an ATF SAC, Mr. Anarumo will oversee ATF’s enforcement of federal firearms, explosives and arson laws; target armed violent gangs and investigate the illegal diversion of contraband alcohol and tobacco products. Mr. Anarumo now functions as the senior executive of one of ATF’s largest field divisions.
Mr. Anarumo began his law enforcement career in 1988 as a confidential investigator with the New York City Department of Investigations. In 1990, he became a special agent with the United States Department of Labor, Office of Labor Racketeering, where he investigated organized crime infiltration into labor unions. After joining ATF in 1991, he was detailed to ATF headquarters in Washington, D.C., as the program manager for the Gang Resistance Education and Training Program (GREAT) in 1998.
In 2000, Mr. Anarumo was promoted to the supervisory position of resident agent in charge of the Hyattsville, Md., ATF Field Office where he supervised day–to–day investigative operations, and oversaw several federal, state and local task forces that worked to combat violent crime such as the highly successful Regional Area Gang Enforcement Task Force (RAGE). He also was the ATF supervisory agent in charge of the D.C. Sniper investigation.
In 2005, Mr. Anarumo was promoted to deputy chief, then chief of the Advanced Firearms Operations Training Division where he was in charge of oversight, development and delivery of all advanced firearms and special operations training bureau–wide.
The ATF New York Field Division is responsible for more than 1,800 federal firearms dealers and 360 explosives licensees. The division remains focused on combating armed violent criminal gangs and sharing information and intelligence with its investigative partners. This is accomplished through the diligent work of ATF’s special agents and industry operations investigators. Other ATF resources include an explosives detection canine team, explosives enforcement officers, certified fire investigators, certified explosives specialists, and members of the special and national response teams. The field division’s intelligence group, located in Manhattan, identifies criminal trends by analyzing recovered crime gun data and targeting illegal gun runners.
More information on ATF and its programs can be found at http://www.atf.gov/.
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