Published 14 July 2018
Buckie got it St Kitts and Nevis news Source
CARICOM Fights Against Gun Crime
Roseau, Commonwealth of Dominica – July 12, 2018
For the period July 10th – 13th 2018, the CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and
Security (IMPACS), with funding under the 10th European Development Fund Project (EDF)
and conducted by Arquebus – a UK based company specialising in ballistics intelligence, will
deliver Double Casting training to local law enforcement ballistics specialists. Following
successful completion of the programme which was hosted in St. Kitts and Nevis, equipment
will be donated to the Commonwealth of Dominica Police Department to strengthen the State’s
capacity to scientifically investigate and prosecute gun crimes.
Participants at the four-day practical training course will receive advanced training on double
casting techniques, consistent with international standards. Double Casting is an
internationally accepted, and Interpol approved, cloning technique used to replicate ballistic
(bullets and cartridge cases) material through the creation of plastic copies.
Just as fingerprint data can link transnational criminal activities, so too can firearms ballistic
data. Each firearm has a unique marking, similar to a fingerprint, that is left on a bullet or shell
casing as it is fired, and which can be traced back to that firearm. The regional sharing of
ballistic data will enable national authorities to trace and make links when investigating cross
border gun crimes.
Using the double casting process, national authorities will be able to create and send replicas
of the original ballistic evidence across borders in quick time to link gun crimes, while keeping
the original evidence and maintaining chain of custody.
This assistant package from CARICOM IMPACS to the Commonwealth of Dominica, forms
part of the expansion of the CARICOM Regional Integrated Ballistic Information Network
(RIBIN) which allows national authorities in CARICOM Member States to share firearms
ballistics intelligence and find connections between separate crime scenes from and within
different countries. The IMPACS assistance package also includes continued post-training
technical support from Arquebus to participants for the period of one year to ensure
sustainability.
This training was administered to St. Kitts and Nevis personnel in early July and two (2) similar
training courses in Double Casting will be delivered by CARICOM IMPACS to national
authorities of Haiti and Suriname during the month of July 2018.
With more than seventy percent (70%) of murders in the Region occurring through the use of
illegal firearms, the training will enhance the proficiency and competencies of national
authorities to more effectively detect and solve gun crimes.
CARICOM IMPACS is the coordinating and implementation arm of the Region’s multilateral
crime and security management architecture, specifically designed to administer a
collaborative and collective response to the crime and security priorities of Member States.
