With the D.C. crime lab losing accreditation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has stepped into action, hauling a massive one-of-a-kind mobile lab to help process gun evidence.
The Philadelphia Police Department, ATF and U.S. Attorney's Office have teamed up on an initiative that will empower investigators with enhanced ballistics examination technology. The ATF will provide a National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) van and trained personnel to improve how crime scenes are processed.
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An ATF board displays some the types of firearms confiscated in Philadelphia. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
The federal government has loaned the Philadelphia Police Department a mobile forensics unit to help investigators make more arrests for gun-related crimes.
Authorities say the $250,000 vehicle, paired with a trailer dedicated to test-firing crime guns, will help reduce the amount of time it takes for experts to process ballistics evidence evidence that could prove critical to clearing one or more open shooting cases.
“The faster we can do the work, while maintaining quality, the more actionable the lead is. The longer a lead takes, the less value it may have because the time to go back and look for video, look for other things, may get lost,” said Michael Garvey, director of the city’s Office of Forensic Science.
Updated on May 7, 2021 at 9:21 pm
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The latest weapon in Philadelphia’s fight to curb gun violence comes in the form of a van from federal authorities.
Since early April, the city’s forensic unit has been getting help from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, using its mobile crime lab to analyze ballistic evidence while dealing with a current staffing shortage and surge in shootings, Philadelphia Office of Forensic Science Director Michael Garvey said.
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“When you’re talking about the level of violence that we’re seeing, we need to aid investigations as quickly as possible, so once again, like in 2012 and like in 2016, and like in every case we have when we’re tracing firearms and running this evidence, we reached out to the ATF for help, and like no better partner, they showed up again,” Garvey said.
CPD has seized guns 451 times in the last 14 months, hereâs where
CPD has seized guns 451 times in the last 14 months, hereâs where By Chris Joseph | April 29, 2021 at 2:34 PM EDT - Updated April 29 at 6:39 PM
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - A WIS investigation into Columbia Police Department gun seizures shows illegally possessed or abandoned guns are being seized in every corner of the city, on an almost daily basis.
WIS compiled photographs of the weapons CPD publishes on
its website. Each picture contains a date, an address (or street block), and the guns seized.
The photographs on the website reflect seizures from February 2020 through December 2020, but Columbia Police Department spokesperson Jennifer Timmons provided additional photos through April 2021.