The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) Explosives Enforcement Officers (EEO) have unique technical capabilities in explosives and bomb disposal. EEOs render bombs and other destructive devices safe, conduct advanced disassembly procedures to preserve and exploit evidence, provide explosive device determinations for criminal prosecutions, and assist with explosives research, development, testing and evaluation.
The goal of the EEO program is to support ATF by enforcing federal explosives laws and protecting the public from the criminal misuse of explosives. This includes:
- Assisting ATF special agents and federal, state and local authorities in responding to and investigating bombings or attempted bombings within ATF jurisdiction.
- Providing expert courtroom testimony in support of investigations.
- Serving as primary technical advisor and support within ATF on matters involving destructive devices.
- Conducting advanced disassembly procedures of bombs and destructive devices.
- Rendering destructive device determinations.
- Assisting with the investigation of explosions and accidents involving explosives operations.
- Providing explosives training to federal, state and local law enforcement agencies in their area of expertise and other related aspects of explosive handling and destruction.
EEOs previously served as public safety bomb technicians or explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) technicians in the U.S. military, where they received extensive specialized explosives and bomb disposal training. On average, EEOs have 16 years of experience in the bomb disposal field prior to their employment at ATF. The agency currently has 7 EEOs stationed throughout the country.
Authorities
ATF is charged with enforcing the federal explosives and arson laws, which include: the National Firearms Act (codified at Title 26, United States Code, Chapter 53), the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, Title XI, and the Safe Explosives Act of 2002 (codified at Title 18, United States Code, Chapter 40), and the implementing regulations (codified at Title 27, Code of Federal Regulations, Parts 479 and 555).
