Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

In August 1995, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government, House Committee on Appropriations, asked us to (1) identify and describe ATF’s policies for the use of deadly force; (2) determine how ATF conveys its policies to its agents; (3) determine the reasons for and the extent to which ATF uses dynamic entry and the equipment ATF uses to accomplish these entries; and (4) determine whether ATF has complied with its procedures for investigating shooting and alleged excessive use-of-force incidents. The Chairman also asked us to compare how ATF addresses the above issues with the way that Justice’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) address them. To determine ATF’s compliance with its investigative procedures, we reviewed ATF’s investigative files for all 38 intentional shooting incidents that were reported to and investigated by ATF from fiscal years 1990 through 1995 as well as for the 25 alleged excessive force incidents we selected. In October 1995, Treasury and Justice adopted uniform policies on the use of deadly force. ATF’s 1988 Policy on the Use of Deadly Force Was Generally Consistent With the 1995 Treasury Policy

“A firearm may be discharged when the special agent believes that there is no other means of control and perceives an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury to himself/herself or other innocent persons.”
The 1988 ATF and 1995 Treasury policies are consistent in that both policies generally authorize the use of such force only when the law enforcement officer reasonably believes or perceives that there is an imminent threat or danger of death or serious physical injury to the officer or another person. Moreover, ATF policy requires that ATF agents be reminded of the deadly force policy at least quarterly throughout their careers. 3.1). During New Agent Training, ATF agents are to be taught to differentiate between situations that require a dynamic or stealth/static entry. Conclusions

Dynamic entry is a common tactic used by ATF, DEA, and FBI when entry to premises is used to execute high-risk search and arrest warrants. Our review also showed that ATF investigations determined that all reported intentional shootings were justified and most reported allegations of excessive force were unsubstantiated. ATF Procedures Are Consistent With Recommended Guidelines and Standards and Are Generally Comparable to Those Employed by DEA and FBI

ATF’s procedures for reporting, investigating, and reviewing shooting incidents and allegations of use of excessive force are consistent with recommended guidelines and/or standards for law enforcement agencies established by IACP, PCIE, and the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. ATF is also in the process of implementing lessons learned from the 1993 operation at Waco.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms' (ATF) use of deadly force and dynamic entry, focusing on: (1) ATF policies on the use of deadly force; (2) how ATF conveys its policies to its agents; (3) the reasons for and the extent to which ATF uses dynamic entry and what equipment it uses; (4) ATF compliance with its procedures for investigating shooting and alleged excessive force incidents; and (5) how the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) address similar issues.

What GAO Found

GAO found that: (1) except for a few instances, the 1988 ATF policy on deadly force was consistent with prior DEA and FBI policies and the 1995 Departments of the Treasury and Justice uniform policies which superceded their agencies' policies; (2) agents may use deadly force only when they reasonably believe that suspects pose an imminent threat of death or serious injury to themselves or other persons; (3) the three agencies' new agent training in their deadly force policies is similar and all agents are required to be retrained on a quarterly basis throughout their careers; (4) dynamic entry is used to ensure personal safety when access to premises is needed in high-risk situations or when suspects might swiftly destroy evidence; (5) the three agencies' method of dynamic entry and weaponry and equipment used was similar; (6) ATF reporting, investigating, and review procedures for shooting and excessive force incidents are consistent with recommended standards and similar to the other agencies'; (7) ATF and DEA excessive force procedures are generally comparable, but FBI procedures require that all allegations be submitted to Justice for possible criminal or civil rights violations before the allegations are self-investigated; (8) ATF generally complied with its investigative procedures during fiscal years 1990 through 1995; (9) ATF found that all intentional shootings were justified, most allegations of excessive force were unsubstantiated, and 5 agents warranted sanctioning for misconduct; and (1O) ATF is implementing lessons learned from the incidents, particularly the Waco, Texas, raid.