Assistant US Attorneys From South Carolina Recipients of National ATF Honor Award in Washington Ceremony Yesterday at ATF Headquarters

Columbia, South Carolina ---- United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) Acting Director Thomas E. Brandon presented the ATF Honor Award to Assistant US Attorney Jamie Schoen, Assistant US Attorney Max Cauthen, and First Assistant US Attorney Lance Crick for their collective and ongoing efforts to partner with local, state, and federal law enforcement to secure communities through the expedited federal arrest, detention, and prosecution of violent, repeat gun offenders in upstate South Carolina, an initiative known as “Operation Real Time.”  The awards were presented at the 21st Annual ATF Awards Ceremony yesterday at ATF National Headquarters in Washington, D.C.   United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions was the featured speaker for the event and NBC News Justice Department Correspondent Pete Williams presented the awards.

The ATF Honor Award is given to a select few non-ATF government officials who have significantly contributed to ATF’s overall mission through long-standing support and cooperation.  Operation Real Time, created by Crick in concert with the Greenville Police Department and ATF/Greenville in August 2015, hinges on constant communication between all levels of law enforcement and state and federal prosecutors, to identify individuals for federal prosecution with significant criminal histories who continue to actively possess firearms in the upstate community. 

Working together, this collaborative partnership has been able to identify violent felons with firearms in “real time,” swiftly arrest those individuals on federal charges, and seek detention pending trial or plea--effectively removing armed repeat offenders from the community from point of local arrest. Since its inception, the initiative has resulted in the expedited federal prosecution of over 125 defendants and the seizure of over 160 firearms as well as assorted ammunition from prohibited persons in the upstate. Based on the success of the program, the Real Time model is now being launched in other counties and cities across the state.

U.S. Attorney Beth Drake commended the work of Schoen, Cauthen, and Crick in praising the Real Time partnership. “We work best when we work together.  This ‘real time’ identification of high risk offenders is smart policing and we welcome the opportunity to work alongside our state chiefs, sheriffs, and solicitors in taking violent repeat offenders out of our communities.”

Pictured above, from left:  NBC Correspondent Pete Williams, Acting ATF Director Thomas E. Brandon, First Assistant US Attorney Lance Crick, Assistant US Attorney Jamie Schoen, Assistant US Attorney Max Cauthen, and Associate Deputy Director Ronald D. Turk.