Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

MILWAUKEE – In honor of National Community Policing Week, special agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Milwaukee Field Office, along with the U.S. Marshals Service, volunteered to serve food and drinks at St. Ben’s Ministries’ Community Meals event in the Westown neighborhood of Milwaukee.

 

In an effort to strengthen ties between police forces and the communities in which they serve, Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced earlier this year the inaugural National Community Policing Week which runs from Oct. 2-8. The local Milwaukee ATF office and U.S. Marshals Service responded to the Attorney General’s initiative by reaching out to St. Ben’s to see how they could get involved.

 

“We chose to participate in this event because it’s not simply for the underprivileged, it’s a community gathering for a variety of folks,” said ATF Assistant Special Agent in Charge Joel Lee, the lead ATF agent in Milwaukee. “It is important for us to be involved in our communities on a personal level, to get to know what is important to people, and to let them know that we are regular people too. We were happy to join in with the U.S. Marshals Service to help serve this week and look forward to helping out again in the future.”

 

U.S. Marshal Kevin Carr of the Eastern District of Wisconsin who also participated in serving meals this week said that he was happy to partner with the ATF for the week.

 

“This is a great way for us to meet with community members, and it was a great event,” Carr said.  

 

Nearly all of the ATF agents who participated in the week’s events were first year agents. One agent commented that his experience working the event was very positive, stating that it was a great way to show the community that law enforcement cares about their well-being.

 

St. Ben's Community Meal serves a hot, home-made dinner to an average of 347 community members per night, six nights a week, Sunday to Friday. Its operations are run almost entirely by volunteers and all community members are welcome to share in the warm, safe environment.

 

ATF is the lead federal law enforcement agency with jurisdiction involving firearms and violent crimes, and regulates the firearm industry. More information about ATF and its programs is available at www.atf.gov.

 

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