Marvin Richardson is the acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobbaco, Firearms and Explosives.
On Friday, he spoke to students who are part of the My Brother’s Keeper program at Western Hills High School in Fort Worth.
His office may be in Washington, DC, but Fort Worth is home.
“I’m straight from here in Lake Como, west of Fort Worth, Texas,” said ATF director Marvin Richardson.
Richardson holds a degree in business administration from the University of North Texas, among others. UNT is also where his law enforcement career began. A friend asked him to join the campus police.
“When he told me he was making $ 30,000 a year at the time, which was a lot of money, I said I could probably do that for a minute, and from that point on I was hooked,” said Richardson. “That was 37 years ago.”
32 of them were with the ATF. Richardson started out as a special agent in the Dallas Field Division.
“It was called the Achilles Unit,” said Richardson. “It was 12 square blocks south of Dallas. That was 1989. Right at the height of the crack cocaine wars.”
Now Richardson is over the agency fighting the war on crimes bringing in the ATF.
This often includes weapon-related crimes.
Richardson discussed the new Texas law on Permittless Carry.
“States have the independence to pass laws they choose,” said Richardson. “If you look again at the amendment that has been tabled, it is a right for everyone. So we’re not here to say oh my gosh you can’t! that with a gun. What you cannot do is that you cannot commit criminal acts with a gun. “
Fighting crime is part of the job. But Richardson says he was drawn to the aspect of public service that is most rewarding.
“If you can drive through a community where you’ve worked and helped eradicate this violence, and see children play in the street, see older people sitting on their porches again, that’s worth more to me than any paycheck you give could ever give me “Said Richardson.
Richardson’s path through the ranks of the ATF has not been easy.
“When you talk about being a black man wearing a blue uniform, so to speak, it creates such a dynamic in you,” said Richardson.
He uses his life experience and the current demands for social justice since the death of George Floyd to train agents.
“I speak to our agents about the need to be socially conscious in our efforts to get the police done,” said Richardson.
Lead by example for agents under him and with the message he tries to get across to students in his hometown.
“You can let yourself be put off by these obstacles, or you can not let them challenge you and get yourself to find ways to overcome, circumvent, or overcome them.”
Richardson spent five years as an officer in the University of North Texas Police Department and rose to the rank of lieutenant before joining the ATF.
Richardson is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
He is married and has six children. His wife is also from Fort Worth.
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