The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is small but mighty.
The ATF is the smallest of all the federal law enforcement agencies under the Department of Justice with just 5,200 employees across the country.
"If it goes boom, bang or burn, we are going to get involved," said Trevor Velinor, ATF Special Agent in Charge of the Columbus Field Office. "If someone is pulling the trigger, we're getting involved. If someone is engaging in arson we're getting involved."
The Cleveland ATF is part of the Columbus Field Office, which covers all of Ohio and part of Indiana. For the very first time, the Columbus Field Office held a Citizens' Academy, and Cleveland was selected to be the first city to host.
It lasted six weeks with less than 20 people from all walks of life taking part, including News 5's Tracy Carloss. The classes gave members of the first Citizens' Academy a glimpse into the world of the ATF — lessons on the laws that regulate what ATF Agents can and can't do, tracking down gun traffickers and infiltrating violent criminal organizations.
"I think it's important for taxpayers to see what we do every day," said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Kyle Walton.
The ATF has a variety of tools at its disposal to solve crimes, including specially trained four-legged agents trained to sniff our explosives. Opelika is a search enhanced evidence K-9, or SEEK. She is one of a handful of highly trained ATF K-9s.
ATF officials said the program was so successful they are planning on doing another citizens academy.
