James Cavanaugh

Special Agent in Charge of the Nashville Field Division

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives

Mr. Cavanaugh is the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) the Special Agent in Charge of the Nashville Field Division. Since December 1997, he has been responsible for directing the Bureau's enforcement activities for Tennessee and Alabama in which there are six Federal judicial districts. Mr. Cavanaugh earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminology from St. Leo College in St. Leo, Florida, and worked as a Deputy Sheriff in Pasco County, Florida prior to beginning his career in Federal law enforcement in 1976. His first assignment with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms was as a special agent in Nashville, Tennessee. Various supervisory and management positions include: Resident Agent in Charge, Wichita, Kansas; Operations Officer, Bureau Headquarters, Explosives Division and Special Operations Division, Washington, D.C.; Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Dallas, Texas; Deputy Chief, Explosives Division, Washington, D.C. and Special Agent in Charge, Birmingham, Alabama. Mr. Cavanaugh has been with ATF for 33 years. Mr. Cavanaugh has represented ATF on delegations to Rome, Italy and its national police forces, to Scotland Yard, the Metropolitan Police in London, England, and to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Ottawa, Canada. He has appeared as a newsmaker on all of the major television networks including such programs as Hardball on MSNBC, The NBC Nightly News, the Discovery Channel, America’s Most Wanted and others. U.S. News and World Report called him a legendary ATF agent. He is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police. He is a member of the United States Government’s Senior Executive Service. In 1993, Mr. Cavanaugh received the Bureau's Distinguished Service Medal for negotiating a ceasefire with the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas. In 2002, Mr. Cavanaugh was ATF’s Deputy Incident Commander in the Washington DC Sniper Case. In 2009, Mr. Cavanaugh was awarded the IACP Individual Achievement Award for Civil Rights for his career work against Nazis, Klansmen, Militiamen, and violent Anti-Government groups.