ATF UNDER THE GUN WITH HIGH EXPOSURE FROM DEADLY EVENTS

Not since the days of Eliot Ness and Al Capone in Chicago's gangster-infested streets has the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms been so under the gun.

For the past five days, the violent confrontation and ensuing standoff between members of the Branch Davidian religious cult and ATF officers near Waco, Texas, has been the focus of national attention.

Two-thousand miles away, ATF special agents, scientists and explosives technologists worked as members of a special investigation force, sifting through the twisted metal and charred debris which remained in the parking garage of the World Trade Center after the violent explosion Monday.

Based on evidence recovered by explosives experts of the ATF, the FBI was able to pinpoint the perpetrator and make an arrest Thursday morning in Jersey City, N.J.

Despite its extensive involvement in several major crime investigations, little is known of this federal agency; few people realize there is an ATF office in Cape Girardeau on South Silver Springs Road.

Five federal agents are assigned to this region, said Bob Beattie, public information officer for the ATF in St. Louis. The Cape Girardeau ATF office serves Eastern Missouri, south of St. Louis and east of Springfield, and Southern Illinois.

Bringing the Waco situation a little closer to home, one of the Cape Girardeau ATF officers is the Special Response Team leader, stationed outside the Branch Davidian compound in Texas.

When they are not chasing international terrorists or involved in a gunfight with a cult members, the primary duty of the ATF agents is to investigate infractions of the federal firearms and explosives laws.

"Our main focus at this point in time is targeting the use of firearms by convicted felons and by people who are engaged in illegal drug dealing," Beattie said.

Specifically, ATF agents are interested in persons who have been arrested, indicted or released from prison on a felony charge, and are carrying firearms. Since these persons would be refused a gun permit by the county's sheriff's department, any guns they possess would be illegal and typically illegally obtained.

Beattie said the ATF often cooperates with other law enforcement agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Agency, the FBI and the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force.

"Guns are a particularly effective tool in the drug-trafficking market," Beattie said. "Most of the traffickers carry weapons to protect themselves from being robbed.

"A lot of your drug traffickers will be carrying a lot of cash, drugs and a sidearm," he said.

Prior to the spread of illegal drugs, the ATF dealt strictly with gun violations, targeting people who were trafficking stolen firearms, machine guns, sawed-off shotguns and illegal silencers.

But as the undercurrents of the crime waves shift, so must the duties of law enforcement officers.

As a general rule, most of the cases handled by the ATF are turned over to the federal court system.

"But if we conduct an investigation and discover the crime may be better prosecuted in state court, we have no qualms about sending the case report to the prosecuting attorney of that county," Beattie said.

In addition, the ATF has jurisdiction in arson-for-profit scams throughout the country. "That's part of our explosives responsibility," Beattie explained.

Violations of federal tobacco and liquor laws are considered a lower priority to the ATF office, he said.

"We really don't have much of an occasion to investigate those kinds of things anymore."

The ATF is highly selective when hiring officers, Beattie said. All those who apply must have a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university and must pass the Treasury Enforcement Agency written exam.

In addition, most AFT agents have field experience with local, state or federal law enforcement agencies.

"It's very competitive," Beattie said. "But the people we end up with are some of the best agents in the country."

Most of the investigations conducted by the ATF are done by plain-clothes agents working undercover.

"That is one of our primary means of maintaining evidence," Beattie said. "Sometimes (agents) go (undercover) for deep, long-term investigations, and others are short-term."

The agents all work in plain clothes daily, Beattie said, unless serving warrants at the conclusion of an investigation.

"Then the officers wear the BDU's - battle dress uniforms - like the ones you see agents near Waco wearing on television," he said.

"They do that to be readily identified as law enforcement agents so there can be no cases of mistaken identity if and when agents are breaking into residences to serve warrants."

Nationwide, the ATF has 2,200 special agents, scientists and explosives technologists. The St. Louis Field Division, which includes agents assigned to offices in St. Louis, Cape Girardeau and Fairview Heights, Ill., has about 45 employees.

A branch office has existed in Cape Girardeau for more than 25 years.

"We do have a fair amount of production out of the Cape Girardeau office," Beattie said. "I can't be more specific, but the agents to keep themselves real busy."

A spokesman for the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force said ATF agents have always been available when the task force has needed assistance.

"(The ATF) played a major role in the fall of The Pharaohs (a motorcycle gang suspected of trafficking in methamphetamines) three years ago," the spokesman said. "They do a lot of good work."

With their hands full at the compound near Waco, ATF officers will have little time to assist anyone but their own forces.

"It's been a hectic week for us," Beattie said.

Asked about a foreseeable end to the conflict in Texas, he said, "I have no idea - I wish it was right now; I certainly hope it's soon."