UNLIREC Provides Ballistics Training for 29 Law Enforcement and Scientific Officers in the Caribbean

Twenty-nine law enforcement officers and scientific officers, all trainee firearm examiners from three Caribbean countries, are now equipped to help the region combat violent crime and illicit firearms trafficking after a UNLIREC training course enhanced their skills in examining firearms and ammunition.

The course was hosted by the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC), in collaboration with the Governments of Barbados, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago. Sessions were offered from November 30 to December 11, 2020.

The group of 29 participants included firearm examiner trainees, firearm technicians, police officers and scientific officers. Participants came from the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (22), the Trinidad and Tobago Forensic Science Centre (4), the Guyana Forensic Science Laboratory (2) and the Royal Barbados Police Force (1).

The “Examination of Fired Ammunition Components and Comparative Pattern Analysis Theory” course teaches key techniques in the examination of details reproduced on spent ammunition parts fired from handguns, rifles and shotgun. These details help ballistics experts correctly classify the firearm components and accurately identify class characteristics on spent ammunition. The course also exposed participants to the differentiating toolmarks made by multiple firearms tools and introduced the concept of contextual bias in firearm and toolmark identification.

At the end of the UNLIREC training, participants had a deeper understanding of their unbiased, scientific role in the judicial process. By enhancing the ability of a law enforcement officer to examine illicit firearms and ammunition used in cases of armed violence, the course builds a country’s capacity to combat all kinds of firearms criminality -including illicit firearms trafficking.

This course complemented recent initiatives by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service to train a new cadre of firearm examiners to address the backlog of over 6,000 ballistic cases in Trinidad and Tobago, and forms part of Phase 3 of the Operational Forensic Ballistics technical assistance provided to the Caribbean States, with the financial support of the Government of the United States.

Since 2015, UNLIREC’s Technical Assessment of Forensic Firearms Laboratories in the Caribbean identified a need to increase the human resource capacity in ballistics laboratories. With a stronger ballistics skill set, the region can more effectively combat all cases of armed violence. Several States have embarked on various initiatives to increase their human capacity, with the support of UNLIREC.

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.