Criminal Justice Jobs – Law Enforcement – ATF Agent
ATF Agent Job Description
ATF stands for alcohol, tobacco and firearms and the agents role is to investigate federal violations around these areas. This will involve investigating transactions, gathering evidence, performing surveillance, interviewing witnesses and suspects and working with other law enforcement agents. You will also find yourself taking part in raids, making arrests, preparing a case for the court and giving evidence.
As with many federal agent roles, you should expect to travel and be relocated across the state and potentially overseas as well.
ATF Agent Educational Requirements
You will need to be between age 21 and 37 at the time of acquiring the role. You will need to have a Bachelors degree in criminal justice or similar, usually together with a couple years relevant experience.
A lower education requirement may be allowed if enough experience is present.
The application itself will involve many steps like most federal jobs. You can expect:
- A Series Of In Depth Interviews
- Written and Oral Assessments
- Urine Analysis
- Medical
- Physical
- Polygraph Exam
- Psychological Assessment
- Background Check
New recruits will undergo intense theory and physical training. The theory will involve study around Constitutional Law, Federal Criminal Law and the Gun Control Act.
The physical training will involve intense conditioning along with firearms and explosives training.
ATF Agent Salary
ATF agents generally earn on average between $35k – $45k per year with bonuses depending on location and assignments. There will also be a range of other benefit packages such as insurance, retirement plans and more.
ATF Agent Career Prospects
There are a variety of sectors to alcohol, tobacco and firearms bureau. Engineering, computer analysis and investigation are all areas that you could focus your efforts on as well as the supervisory positions within each sector.
With your experience as an ATF agent, there will also be a multitude of other employment opportunities available in many different industries and sectors.
