Bennie Mims was selected in January of 2022 as the Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive’s (ATF) Charlotte Field Division. As the Special Agent in Charge, Mr. Mims has executive management responsibility over all ATF operations occurring throughout North and South Carolina.
ATF’s dedicated workforce is comprised of special agents, industry operations investigators, intelligence research specialists, forensic auditors, technicians, and support staff. ATF’s Charlotte Field Division special agents combat firearms violence by focusing their investigative efforts on armed violent offenders, armed career criminals, criminal groups and gangs, and firearms traffickers, while working in partnership with local, state, and other federal law enforcement agencies to accomplish this mission. Explosives and arson enforcement is an integral part of ATF’s overall violent crime reduction strategy. Special agents with the Charlotte Field Division combat arson and criminal misuse of explosives crimes by conducting investigations in partnership with local and state fire investigators and bomb squads. ATF also regulates the firearms and explosives industries. Industry operations investigators work to ensure that all firearms and explosives are stored, handled, and sold in a safe manner and in compliance with federal law and regulations.
Prior to his appointment to the Charlotte Field Division, SAC Mims served as assistant special agent in charge of the Chicago Field Division, where he oversaw all ATF enforcement operations throughout the Chicagoland area.
SAC Mims began his law enforcement career in 2001 in Texas as a police officer with the Dallas Police Department. In 2007, SAC Mims started his ATF career as a special agent in the Houston Field Division’s McAllen Field Office, where he worked a multitude of complex firearms trafficking investigations. After serving five years in McAllen, SAC Mims took on an assignment in the Miami Field Division’s U.S. Virgin Islands satellite offices. During this assignment, SAC Mims re-started the ATF offices on St. Thomas and St. Croix, the first operations in the USVI since 2008. In 2015, SAC Mims was promoted to program manager in the Leadership Institute, where he oversaw, hosted, and conducted leadership trainings for ATF employees. In 2016, SAC Mims became a group supervisor for the Chicago Field Division and served as a group supervisor for three years until being promoted to assistant special agent in charge of the Chicago Field Division.
A Texas native, SAC Mims holds a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from Southwestern Oklahoma State University.