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Sheriff's Office Regional Firearms Identification Laboratory
Functioning as one of the operations within the Investigative Support Division of the Field Operations Support Bureau, the Regional Firearms Identification Laboratory provides highly specialized examinations related to the disciplines of firearms and tool mark identification. As a regional laboratory, the Firearms Identification Laboratory provides services to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office as well as local, county, and federal law enforcement agencies within southeast Texas. The Firearms Identification Laboratory is an active participant in the National Integrated Ballistics Identification Network (NIBIN); imaging fired evidence specimens and test fired exemplars using the Bureau of Alchohol, Tabacco, Firearms and Explosives' Integrated Ballistics Identification System (IBIS).
The Sheriff's Office Firearms Identification Laboratory is committed to providing objective and scientifically reliable forensic analysis and other appropriate technical support for the criminal justice system within Harris County and surrounding jurisdictions.
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The Firearms Identification Laboratory, officially named the Harris County Sheriff's Office Regional Firearms Identification Laboratory , was created as a result of a grant award from the Criminal Justice Division of the Governor's Office of the State of Texas. This grant helped fund laboratory operations for the first five years of operation. The laboratory began doing casework in July of 1999. In January 2006, the Harris County Sheriff's Office Regional Firearms Identification Laboratory received national accreditation by the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB) and the Texas Department of Public Safety. The Firearms Identification Laboratory receives firearms and firearms related evidence not only from the Harris County Sheriff's Office, but also from dozens of law enforcement agencies throughout southeast Texas .
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The Firearms Identification Laboratory is a major contributor to the National Integrated Ballistics Identification Network (NIBIN) using the imaging technology of the Integrated Ballistics Identification System (IBIS). With the IBIS system, the Firearms Identification Laboratory is able to support and assist criminal investigations by linking together criminal cases that were not known to be related using firearm evidence. The IBIS system was obtained from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives through Federal appropriations with the support of several local United States Congressional Representatives.
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Current staffing within the Firearms Laboratory consists of the Laboratory Manager, four court qualified Firearms and Tool Mark Examiners, one Firearms Technician, an IBIS Clerk and one office clerk. Since beginning operations in 1999, the Firearms Identification Laboratory has seen a steady increase in the workload. During 2000, the first full year of operation, the laboratory received approximately 1000 cases. Five years later in 2005 the workload had increased by 54% with the laboratory receiving over 1600 cases.
Located at 1885 Old Spanish Trail within the Harris County Medical Examiner's Building, this section provides a full range of forensic firearms and tool mark identification services to any agency in Southeast Texas; these examinations include:
- Comparison and identification of fired bullets and cartridge cases to each other and to suspect weapons.
- Testing of clothing for development of gunshot residue patterns and distance determinations.
- Evaluation of mechanical condition of weapons.
- Tool mark identifications.
- Entry of evidence and test fires in the Integrated Ballistics Identification System.
- Expert testimony in the Courts in the field of firearms identification.
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