Christopher C. Shaefer - Assistant Special Agent in Charge

Christopher C. Shaefer was appointed to the position of Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) of the Los Angeles Field Division in January 2007. In his current assignment, Mr. Shaefer oversees the day-to-day investigative activities for seven criminal enforcement field offices whose geographical jurisdiction encompasses the greater Los Angeles area.

Mr. Shaefer began his law enforcement career in 1982 as a police officer for the City of Manteca, California, where he worked several assignments to include patrol, detectives, and Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT). In 1992, he accepted a position with ATF as a special agent and was assigned to the Sacramento I Field Office, Sacramento, California. In April 2000, he was promoted to Supervisory Special Agent of the San Francisco I and later the San Francisco II Field Office, San Francisco, California.

In May 2004, Mr. Shaefer was transferred to ATF Headquarters in Washington, D.C., where he served in the Office of Professional Responsibility and Security Operations - Inspection Division. The Inspection Division is empowered by the Director to perform assessments of all ATF operations by conducting inspections, audits, and management reviews to ensure compliance with laws, regulations, and published ATF policies and procedures. While in this assignment, Mr. Shaefer was also responsible for the review and documentation of ATF’s Preparedness and Response to Hurricane Katrina.

Throughout his ATF career, Mr. Shaefer has worked and supervised numerous federal firearm, explosives and arson investigations. In October 2008, Mr. Shaefer was the operational On-Scene Commander of one of the largest criminal investigations in ATF history, “Operation Black Rain.” This investigation targeted members of a violent outlaw motorcycle gang and as a result, over 1500 law enforcement officers arrested nearly 100 members of this gang and executed over 130 search warrants without incident.

He is a trained tactical crisis negotiator and was assigned to the Bureau’s elite Special Response Team (SRT) for four years. He has been assigned to numerous dignitary protective details to include the President, Vice-president, presidential candidates, and foreign heads of State. In 2002, he was detailed to the Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, UT, where he was a shift supervisor of the Olympic Joint Terrorism Task Force. In June 2010, Mr. Shaefer was detailed for 100 days to San Diego, California to oversee a covert initiative focusing on southwest border violence. Mr. Shaefer is a graduate of the University of San Francisco, where he received a Bachelor degree in Public Administration with a minor in Criminal Justice. He and his wife, Janice, have three children.