Puerto rico is one of the homicide capitals of the united states, suffering the consequences of a flood of illegal firearms imported from the continental united states via the mail and then modified…

The U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance (CFDA 16.738 - Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program) awarded a $700,000 Project Grant to the Instituto De Ciencias Forenses, the centralized forensic science institute serving Puerto Rico. The funding will be used to: (1) hire and train technicians to enter shell casings into the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) and perform test fires, (2) fund a local prosecutor to focus on prosecuting firearm cases and tracking NIBIN-generated prosecutions, and (3) procure equipment such as an automated imaging triage device to expedite the comparison and submission of ballistic evidence to NIBIN. The goal is to reduce the turnaround time for NIBIN lead notifications from 62 days to 24-48 hours to support law enforcement efforts to combat gun violence in Puerto Rico.

Puerto rico is one of the homicide capitals of the united states, suffering the consequences of a flood of illegal firearms imported from the continental united states via the mail and then modified on the island into machineguns. Murder scenes can have hundreds of shell casings. The tracing of illegal guns both (1) between crime scenes, and (2) from illegal gun traffickers is critical to reducing puerto ricos surge in violent crime. Nibin and etrace should be a cornerstone of that system, but the timeframe between evidence submission and nibin lead generation is currently measured in months, not days. A primary goal of this proposal by puerto ricos institute of forensic sciences is to reduce the turn-around time from evidence submission to nibin lead notifications from 62 days to 24-48 hours. Specifically, the funding would be used for the following: (1) to pay for the hiring and training of technicians at the puerto rico institute of forensic sciences to enter shell casings into nibin and to perform test fires, (2) to fund a special local prosecutor in one of the most violent municipalities who would focus on prosecuting firearm cases and tracking nibin-generated prosecutions, (3) to fund equipment, such as an automated imaging triage device that would allow immediate scanning of ballistics evidence in order to: (a) compare cartridge cases, (B)calculate the minimum number of firearms involved, and (C) identify the best cartridge cases to submit to nibin.