Mar 7, 2017 | Uncategorized
From 26 June – 6 July, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC), together with ARQUEBUS Solutions Ltd, delivered two double cast training courses in Barbados to thirteen participants from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Five participants, including four examiners and one IBIS technician, received training from 26-29 June, during UNLIREC´s national double cast training course for Barbados. Five police armourers, two police drug detectives and one forensic technologist from the Royal Police Forces of Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines and the St Vincent Forensic Drug Laboratory, participated in the sub-regional training during the 3-6 July. The training provided was based on INTERPOL’s Double Casting methodology.
Double casting increases the ability of national authorities to make connections between crime and crime scenes, nationally, regionally and internationally. The training sought to build capacity in the region to create microscopic replicas of projectiles and cartridge cases that can be peer reviewed and uploaded to an Automated Ballistics Identification Network, stored in an Open Case File or shared across jurisdictions for comparison without disturbing the chain of custody of the original evidence.
Double Casting is a two step-process that requires a silicone mould to be made of a fired bullet or cartridge case; a resin cast is then made using the silicone mould created. Ballistic projectiles are mounted in a secured cup or mould box before pouring the silicone to make the mould. The moulds are then placed in a degassing chamber to remove air bubbles, taken out of the chamber, and cured for 15 hours. The cured mould is then removed from the cup or box and the specimen extracted. Next, the silicone mould is filled with casting resin, pressurized in a pressure pot, removed and the cured resin cast demoulded. The resin bullet and cartridge castings are then ready for ballistics imaging or microscope examination and comparison.
Equipment used in the training as well as consumables to conduct further double casting of cartridge cases or projectiles, were handed over to the Government of Barbados for continued ballistics support to the Eastern Caribbean States. Double casting equipment will also be donated to each of the four States that participated in the training, to allow them to build capacity and make replicas of bullets and cartridge cases that can be shared across jurisdictions.
Double Cast Training is part of UNLIREC’s Caribbean Operational Forensic Ballistics Assistance Package, which is made possible thanks to the support of the US Department of State and the Government of Canada.
UNLIREC, as the regional organ of the UN Office for Disarmament, seeks to advance the cause of practical disarmament in Latin America and the Caribbean as part of its commitment to support Member States in their implementation of international disarmament and non-proliferation instruments, in particular, the 2001 UN Programme of Action on Small Arms.
Jan 23, 2017 | Uncategorized
From 24 – 26 January, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC) carried out its pilot forensic ballistics collaborative exercise in Trinidad and Tobago.
Four members of the Trinidad and Tobago Forensic Science Centre (TTFSC) participated during the 3-day exercise. These exercises were the eighth and final piloting of Collaborative Exercises and are part of the third round of implementation under the framework of the UNLIREC’s Caribbean Operational Forensic Ballistics Assistance Package. The Assistance Package, which is made possible thanks to the support of the US Department of State and the Government of Canada, is being implemented in Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis and Trinidad and Tobago.
The collaborative exercises are a series of practical and paper-based assessments on the competencies of: forensic examination of small arms ammunition, forensic examination of firearms and their components and trigger pull and travel examination. The exercises – based on UNLIREC’s standard operating procedures – were developed as a preparatory step for a regional framework of competency testing. These exercises may also be used as an internal assessment tool for the forensic science institutes and laboratories of the region.
During this process, all examiners were assessed. These assessments also support the internal identification of existing gaps in skills, knowledge and procedures within Firearms Units in each State.
UNLIREC, as the regional organ of the UN Office for Disarmament, seeks to advance the cause of practical disarmament in Latin America and the Caribbean as part of its commitment to support Member States in their implementation of international disarmament and non-proliferation instruments, in particular, the 2001 UN Programme of Action on Small Arms.
Nov 14, 2016 | Uncategorized
From 14-18 November, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC) carried out its pilot forensic ballistics collaborative exercise in the Dominican Republic and Guyana. These exercises are a series of practical and paper-based assessments on the competencies of forensic examination of small arms ammunition, forensic examination of firearms and their components and trigger pull and travel examination. The exercises – based on UNLIREC’s standard operating procedures – were developed as a preparatory step for a regional framework of competency testing. These exercises also support the internal identification of existing gaps in skills, knowledge and procedures within firearms units in each State and may also be used as an internal assessment tool for the forensic science institutes and laboratories of the region.
Six members of the Scientific Police, the Ballistic and Biometric Lab of the National Firearms System, and the National Institute of Forensic Sciences in the Dominican Republic participated in this internal four-day assessment. At the same time, UNLIREC carried out the same exercise with the Guyana Police Crime Laboratory with four firearm examiners. These exercises form part of a third round of implementation under the framework of UNLIREC’s Caribbean Operational Forensic Ballistics Assistance Package, made possible thanks to the support of the US Department of State and the Government of Canada.
UNLIREC, as the regional organ of the UN Office for Disarmament, seeks to advance the cause of practical disarmament in Latin America and the Caribbean as part of its commitment to support Member States in their implementation of international disarmament and non-proliferation instruments, in particular, the 2001 UN Programme of Action on Small Arms.
Oct 24, 2016 | Uncategorized
From 26-28 October, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC), in collaboration with the Government of St Kitts and Nevis, carried out a forensic ballistics competency testing exercises for police firearms examiners in Basseterre. This internal testing tool is used to determine staff competencies in key functional areas.
This tool was developed based on UNLIREC’s ballistics-specific standard operating procedures, including issues integral to the day to day work undertaken by firearms examiners, such examination of small arms ammunition, examination of firearms and their components and trigger pull determination. In the medium- and long-term, this internal testing tool will systematize the continual upgrading of “competencies”, allow for modifications in training and sustain an ever-more capable pool of Caribbean forensic ballistics experts.
These exercises form part of the third round of implementation under the framework of UNLIREC’s Caribbean Operational Forensic Ballistics Assistance Package, which is made possible thanks to the support of the US Department of State and the Government of Canada.
UNLIREC, as the regional organ of the UN Office for Disarmament, seeks to advance the cause of practical disarmament in Latin America and the Caribbean as part of its commitment to support Member States in their implementation of international disarmament and non-proliferation instruments, in particular, the 2001 UN Programme of Action on Small Arms.
Sep 19, 2016 | Uncategorized
From 19 to 22 September, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC), in collaboration with the Government of Barbados, carried out its pilot forensic ballistics collaborative competency testing exercise. These exercises are part of the third round of implementation within the framework of the UNLIREC’s Caribbean Operational Forensic Ballistics Assistance Package, which is made possible thanks to the support of the US Department of State and the Government of Canada.
These exercises comprise a series of practical and multiple choice questions on the competencies of: forensic examination of small arms ammunition, forensic examination of firearms and their components and trigger pull and travel examination. The exercises – based on UNLIREC’s standard operating procedures – were developed as a preparatory step for a regional framework of competency testing. These exercises may also be used as an internal assessment tool for the forensic science institutes and laboratories of the region in an independent and continual manner.
During this process, four firearms examiners from the Royal Barbados Police Force were assessed. These assessments also support the internal identification of existing gaps in skills, knowledge and procedures within Firearms Units in each State.
UNLIREC, as the regional organ of the UN Office for Disarmament, seeks to advance the cause of practical disarmament in Latin America and the Caribbean as part of its commitment to support Member States in their implementation of international disarmament and non-proliferation instruments, in particular, the 2001 UN Programme of Action on Small Arms.
