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.