STRATEGIC GOAL 4 FIRE AND ARSON

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STRATEGIC GOAL 4FIRE AND ARSON

CHALLENGES AND THREATSIN THE FIRE AND ARSONDOMAIN

Annual Property Loss Due to ArsonRemains Significant. The loss of lives anddecline in property values that result fromarson cases in the United States each yearremain significant. In 2007, according to theU.S. Fire Administration (USFA), inten-tionally set structure fires resulted in an esti-mated 295 civilian deaths and $733 millionin property damage.

Economic downturns in the United Statesmay lead to an increase in arson for profit.Small business owners and other individualsmay feel financial pressure to intentionallyburn their properties to collect insurance. Asthe lead Federal agency for arson investigation,ATF investigates all significant arson cases.

ATF’S ROLE IN INVESTIGATINGARSON

ATF’s state-of-the-art technology in fire inves-tigation and research allows the Bureau toserve as a valuable resource to Federal, state,local and tribal partners who are responsiblefor fire investigation and public safety.

ATF’s highly trained and experienced Cert-ified Fire Investigators (CFIs) are our pri-mary resource in fire-related matters. Theyconduct fire scene examinations, render originand cause determinations, and provide experttestimony on fire scene determinations. Thespecial agents also lend technical guidanceand analysis in support of field arson inves-

tigative activities. CFIs conduct arson-relatedtraining for other Federal, state, local, and trib-al fire investigators, and conduct research toidentify trends and patterns in fire incidents.

ATF’s National Response Team (NRT) con-sists of highly trained special agents, forensicchemists, EEOs, electrical engineers, fire pro-tection engineers, canine handlers, and othertechnical experts who can be deployed within24 hours to major explosion and fire scenesanywhere in the United States. The NRTassists Federal, state, local and tribal officers infire and explosives incidents by providingexaminations of the scene, interviews, assis-

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Strategic Goal:Explosives,Bombs, andBombings (cont.)Advance domesticand internationalexplosives expertiseto prevent, detect,and investigate actsof violent crime andterrorism and toenhance public safety.

PerformanceGoal Statement: Reduce the risk topublic safety causedby bombs and explosives.

StrategicObjective 3: Strengthen thedetection, prevention,and investigation ofexplosives and bomb-ing incidents throughpartnerships, collab-oration, and compre-hensive intelligenceand information sharing.

Strategies

1. Enhance Industry and Public Safety CommunityOutreach:Increase awareness of potential misuse of commerciallyavailable products used to produce homemade explo-sives through enhanced industry and public safetycommunity outreach programs.

2. Increase Collaboration in Training and Research:Exploit the analysis of operational data, validate bestpractices, and enhance training and research initiativesby sharing information with industry, law enforcement,public safety agencies, the military, and academia.

3. Provide Broader Access to Information via USBDC:Provide broader access to explosives- and bombing-related information and build a single, universal knowl-edge base through the USBDC and the use of ATF infor-mation-sharing tools by Federal, state, local, and triballaw enforcement and public safety partners.

4. Promote Domestic and International Partnerships:Proactively foster domestic and international workingpartnerships to combat the risk to public safety causedby the illegal use of explosives.

Explosives, Bombs, and Bombings Performance Indicators:

w Number of defendants convicted, in the given fiscal year, for violations related to explosives, regardless of the year of referral

w Number of defendants referred, in the given fiscal year, for prosecution for violations related to explosives

w Number of explosive destructions/disposals executed in the interest of public safetyw Number of explosives devices recoveredw Number of people (ATF employees and Federal, state, local and international law enforcement)

trained in explosives through the National Center for Explosives Training and Researchw Number of canine teams (ATF and Federal, state and local law enforcement) trained to meet the

national odor recognition standardw Number of active Bomb and Arson Tracking System (BATS) usersw Number of BATS accounts

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explosives analysis. FSL expertise includes analy-sis of trace evidence, DNA, fingerprints, andtool marks, and is a major scientific resource inthe forensic examination of fire and explosionincidents. In addition, FSL personnel providecritical support to, and share their uniqueexpertise with, partner law enforcementorganizations domestically and internationally.

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tance with the resulting investigations, andexpert court testimony.

The International Response Team (IRT)investigates explosives and fire incidents outsidethe United States. Modeled after the NRT, theIRT also consists of ATF’s most experiencedinvestigators, technicians, and forensic experts.The IRT deploys at the request of the Depart-ment of State.

The Fire Research Laboratory (FRL) is acritical component to ATF’s fire investiga-tion mission. Established to support ATF’sarson investigative requirements, the FRL is aunique fire testing facility that can replicatefire scenarios under controlled conditions.The FRL is an innovative resource for lawenforcement, fire services, public safety agen-cies, industry, and academia. Our scientistsand engineers use advanced scientific, techni-cal, and educational methodologies to makeATF and its partners leaders in fire investiga-tion science.

ATF is a definitive source of science-basedfire investigation training. In partnershipwith USFA’s National Fire Academy, ATFredesigned the Fire/Arson InvestigationsCourse. This curriculum offers current sci-ence-based fire origin and cause training tostate, local, Federal, and tribal investigators.ATF engineers, special agent/CFIs, and

USFA/ATF contract instructors deliver theseclasses to fire investigators from across theUnited States. To complement the new cur-riculum, ATF contributed significant improve-ments to the National Fire Academy’s train-ing facilities.

ATF’s Forensic Science Laboratories (FSLs)specialize in the analysis of physical evidenceobtained from fire and explosion scenes. Thethree labs provide field support nationwideand leadership in the areas of fire debris and

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Strategic Goal:Fire and ArsonAdvance the scienceof fire investigationglobally, by settingand delivering thehighest standards inresponse, research,information sharingand training.

PerformanceGoal Statement: Reduce the risk topublic safety causedby the criminal use of fire.

StrategicObjective 1: Ensure the highestpossible level ofinvestigativeresponse, expertise,and capability at alllevels of government.

StrategicObjective 2: Provide the Nationwith a definitivesource of technicalexpertise, research,analysis, and data in the fire disciplineusing the FRL andother sources ofadvanced technologies.

Strategies

1. Deploy Specialized Resources: Make communities safer from fires by stationing expertpersonnel and specialized resources in targeted areas.

2. Provide Ongoing Investigative Assistance at Scenesof Fires: Assist Federal, state, local, and tribal fire service/publicsafety entities at the scenes of fires to help determinethe cause(s) of fires and provide ongoing investigativesupport.

3. Enhance Training Programs for Fire Service/PublicSafety Community: Equip the fire service/public safety community withthe most advanced knowledge and technical expertisepossible by developing and delivering training programsthat will advance their abilities to respond to and inves-tigate fires.

4. Support the Judicial Process: Ensure arson offenders are punished by supporting thejudicial process, including working with Federal and stateprosecutors and providing expert testimony in court.

1. Increase Fire and Arson Research and Development:Advance the science of fire investigation by:

a) Conducting research and sharing the results with fire investigators throughout the United States;

b) Identifying and evaluating the use and impact of emerging technologies in the fire investiga-tion discipline;

c) Providing expert forensic analysis of fire investigation evidence; and

d) Making our state-of-the-art facilities available for collaborative research with universities and the commercial sector.

2. Share Information with the Fire InvestigativeCommunity: Bring the fire investigative community, including the pri-vate sector, Federal agencies, and local fire depart-ments, together on a national level by capturing its col-lective knowledge regarding investigative data,research results, fire trends, and technical issues.Share this information in a real-time environment viathe USBDC and the FRL.

Protecting our country and our communities from the illegal use of fire is one of ATF’s key roles andtherefore is one of the Bureau’s strategic goals.

ATF’s Financial Investigative Services Div-ision’s (FISD) auditors, certified public account-ants and certified fraud examiners identify finan-cial incentives and motivations for arson. Morebroadly, these experts uncover the financialmechanisms that enable a wide range of illegalactivities, including firearms trafficking anddiversion of tobacco and alcohol products.FISD experts provide critical courtroom testi-mony that helps to explain the financialmotives for crime and the movement of ille-gal proceeds of those crimes through criminalenterprises and banking systems.

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Fire and Arson Performance Indicators:

w Number of defendants convicted, in the given fiscal year, for violations related to arson, regardless of the year of referral

w Number of defendants referred, in the given fiscal year, for prosecution for violations related to arsonw Number of people (ATF employees and Federal, state, local and international law enforcement)

trained to investigate and support Federal arson casesw NRT Satisfaction Rating (%) related to arsonw Annual number of fire research activities conducted in support of criminal investigations

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STRATEGIC GOAL 5MODERNIZATION

EXPANDED USE OF E-GOVERNMENT ANDTECHNOLOGY

Government agencies are pursuing and inte-grating cost-effective information technologyinto everyday business. Driven by the E-Gov-ernment Act of 2002 and subsequent presi-dential initiatives around transparency andopenness, government agencies have beendirected to ensure that information technolo-gy systems are funded, developed, and operat-ed in a manner that manages risk, providesthe greatest level of performance, and offersrobust services to citizens. With anticipatedexpansion of these initiatives and programs,government agencies must commit to contin-uously improving performance, service, andsecurity. ATF is working diligently to shareinformation and standardize information-sharing policies.

ATF’S CURRENT SYSTEMS,SERVICES, AND MODERNIZA-TION ACTIVITIES

ATF delivers a variety of technological serv-ices and information to its employees and toits external law enforcement and industrypartners. Examples include ballistics imagingthrough NIBIN, firearms tracing througheTrace and the NTC, requests to import fire-arms using the online e-Form 6, and bomband arson information through BATS.Additionally, ATF shares, to the extent per-mitted by law, information from its internalcase management and intelligence-gatheringsystem throughout the law enforcement com-munity. Given the critical importance of this

information to the effective execution ofATF’s and its partners’ missions, it is impera-tive that these systems provide integrated,seamless, reliable, and readily available accessto relevant data. Accordingly, we continu-ously improve our data capabilities so thattimely and integrated information is avail-able for ATF employees and, as appropriate,ATF’s Federal partners, industry members,stakeholders, and the public.

Automation and e-Government: In expand-ing e-Government, ATF has upgraded BATS,using architecture that allows ATF to expandthe user population in a safe, secure, and con-sistent manner. The expansion assisted DOJin meeting the Office of Management andBudget (OMB) mandate to authenticate atleast one public access system in FY 2006 insupport of DOJ’s Law Enforcement Informa-tion Sharing Program (LEISP) and OneDOJ.

The National Tracing Center (NTC) workswith firearms manufacturers and wholesalersto decrease completion time and reduce costsassociated with traces. Ongoing investmentsin eTrace specifically, and ATF’s firearms