By John Diedrich and Raquel Rutledge Milwaukee Journal Sentinel WASHINGTON — After running nearly 40 undercover storefront stings in the last five years, the ATF’s deputy director says no such operations are now underway and that improvements in oversight have been made in the wake of botched operations nationwide. Deputy Director Thomas E. Brandon testified…
By John Diedrich and Raquel Rutledge Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ATF agents have lost track of dozens of government-issued guns, after stashing them under the front seats in their cars, in glove compartments or simply leaving them on top of their vehicles and driving away, according to internal reports from the past five years obtained…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The ATF is under fire for botched storefront stings and other undercover operations across the country. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that Inspector General Michael Horowitz opened an investigation into storefront stings in Milwaukee, Pensacola, St. Louis and Wichita, Kan. The agency is already under investigation for its handling of a controversial…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com A retired ATF agent who infiltrated the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang is suing the federal agency for $10 million for failing to protect him, News 4 Tucson reports. Jay Dobyns, an ATF agent for 27 years, was investigating Hell’s Angels between 2001 and 2003 as an undercover agent. As a result, Dobyns…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Some justice was delivered in a sorry chapter in law enforcement involving the murder of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry on Dec. 14, 2010. Manuel Osorio-Arellanes of Mexico was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Tucson to 30 years in prison for the killing of Terry, whose death was…
By Les Zaitz The Oregonian PORTLAND, Ore. — A police operation meant to protect girls working for a pimp ended with an 18-year-old woman partially stripped, talking sex while massaging a naked police detective in a hotel room. The 2011 episode in a Vancouver, Wash., hotel was an odd conclusion to a long undercover operation…
By the Chicago Tribune Editorial Page Chicago We all know crime fighter Eliot Ness brought down Chicago mobster Al Capone, right? Not quite. Ness spent the best years of his life in a hunt to put Capone behind bars, but he had less to do with the final outcome than legend has it. Ness retired…
