State beefs up gun crime data analysis
A forensic science evidence box containing gun from crime scene. Monty Rakusen/Getty Images
Connecticut’s new Crime Gun Intelligence Center will analyze gun evidence in real time and share forensic data to identify shooters and prevent further violence.
In a bid to identify shootings, disrupt criminal activity and prevent future violence, Connecticut will establish a Crime Gun Intelligence Center. The interagency effort will immediately collect, manage and analyze evidence like shell casings from gun crimes in real time.
Funded by a $700,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, the center will be contained within the Connecticut Forensic Science Laboratory, a division of the state’s Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection.Gov. Ned Lamont said Connecticut is first in the nation to receive a grant for this purpose.
The center will create an information-sharing interface between information management systems of the Connecticut Forensic Science Laboratory and law enforcement for forensic data on firearms used in crimes.
Participating law enforcement agencies will get immediate access to pertinent information associated with leads stored in the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, a nationwide database of firearm casings. That information will include forensic results and information from the national DNA and fingerprint databases, as well as any other evidence related to cases established by the original NIBIN lead.
Collaborating agencies will include the Connecticut State Police, the Connecticut Gun Tracing Task Force, the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and local law enforcement agencies.
“The creation of this unified, statewide interface will make it easier for federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies and the state forensic laboratory to easily share data on the forensics of gun crimes in real time, with the goal of identifying those involved in criminal activity and preventing future crimes from happening,” Lamont said in a statement. “This center will be a collaborative effort and significantly improve the ability to share evidence-based data.”
Already, ATF provides investigative leads to law enforcement at all levels through its National Tracing Center, which is the only national facility to trace guns used during the commission of crimes.
But state and local efforts to trace firearms have been limited. Not all law enforcement agencies trace guns confiscated in crimes, and those that do may not collect complete data. In Milwaukee, for example, police track data on guns reported stolen in the city, but they have not traced the origin of the more than 8,000 guns confiscated between Jan. 1, 2020, to July 8, 2022, Wisconsin Watch reported.
In February, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced an Interstate Task Force on Illegal Guns that aimed to reduce gun violence by investing in tools that will help stop the flow of illegal firearms and enable multiple states to efficiently share tracing data.
Last June, the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) began using the Gun Trafficking Intelligence Platform to identify illegal firearms and combat gun trafficking. The tool taps crime gun trace data and ballistics information and other datasets and aggregates and visualizes that information to identify networks, individuals and entities that might be involved in gun crime.
Twelve states require law enforcement to trace every crime gun they recover, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun violence prevention organization. Delaware, Illinois and New Jersey also require that ballistics evidence be entered into a separate federal database.