ATF Announces Crime Gun Intelligence Center of Excellence
WASHINGTON – The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announces the establishment of ATF’s Crime Gun Intelligence Center of Excellence to be located on the campus of Wichita State University in Wichita, Kan. The Center of Excellence will be a model for the use of crime gun intelligence (CGI) in supporting law enforcement agencies throughout the United States.
The Center of Excellence will serve as a home for the National Crime Gun Intelligence Governing Board. Established in 2016, the board leverages the collective experience of local, state, and federal experts working in forensics, law enforcement, and criminal law to ensure ATF receives valuable input on national programs relating to CGI.
The Center of Excellence will also serve as a second National Correlation Center for the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network. NIBIN is the only national network that allows for the 3D imaging and comparison of ballistic evidence recovered from crime scenes. The current NIBIN National Correlation and Training Center, located in Huntsville, Ala., conducts approximately 1,700 correlations per day for law enforcement agencies nationwide. This second center, NNCTC-II, will allow ATF to expand its free correlation services to additional law enforcement agencies resulting in more investigative leads for our partners.
Furthermore, the Center of Excellence will provide a myriad of training in CGI. It will serve as a national academy for the training of ATF’s Intelligence Research Specialists. These specialists serve as ATF’s primary source of intelligence research and evaluate data to generate leads for special agents and industry operations investigators.
“The use of crime gun intelligence is an essential tool for every criminal investigation involving firearms,” said Deputy Director Marvin Richardson. “This new Crime Gun Intelligence Center of Excellence will be instrumental in expanding the use of these innovative and forward-thinking strategies by law enforcement agencies throughout the country.”
To learn more about ATF and its crime gun intelligence programs, go to: https://www.atf.gov/firearms/tools-services-law-enforcement.
###
