2019 Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvements Grant Program - Competitive

The Division of Scientific Services (DSS) has seen an increase in the amount of fentanyl detected in its narcotic cases. Additional focus has been shifted to linking narcotic activity to firearms possession and firearms crimes. The increase in case submissions relating to narcotics investigations coupled with the increase in firearms-related submissions has challenged DSS to get timely forensic investigative information disseminated to the law enforcement agencies. DSS will use the funds to provide a mobile IBIS workstation to travel to local law enforcement agencies to forensically capture the images of cartridge case and firearms evidence, providing time savings and quicker turnaround times on potential leads for investigative purposes. This program will maximize the best method to acquire the ballistic evidence images into the database in the quickest manner possible to begin the search for possible leads in a case. Additionally, local law enforcement officers can be trained to perform their own acquisition of the firearms evidence. This project will reduce the days from offense date to submission for analysis along with improving the turnaround time of providing valuable forensic leads to law enforcement agencies during the initial stages of the investigation. CA/NCF