The National Integrated Ballistic Information Network or NIBIN is a specialized computer network in the United States. It contains digital images of recovered pieces of ballistic evidence. Running on the

Integrated Ballistic Identification System The Integrated Ballistics Identification System, or ''IBIS'', is the brand of the Automated firearms identification system manufactured by Forensic Technology WAI, Inc., of Montreal, Canada. Use IBIS has been adopted as the platform of the Nationa ...

or IBIS platform, NIBIN enables U.S. law enforcers to rapidly determine if a piece of recovered ballistic evidence came from a firearm that has been previously used in a crime. There are certain criteria that must be met prior to entering information into the NIBIN database. For instance, cartridge cases from a .22 caliber firearm or a revolver are normally not entered. Using NIBIN, law enforcement staff can identify firearms in new cases that were used in prior incidents. A series of seventeen different Washington state crime scenes involving seven firearms, and three different agencies in two counties, was identified using information provided by IBIS/NIBIN.

Organizational purpose

In 1999, the

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as the ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and preve ...

(ATF) established and began administration of the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network. In this program, ATF administers automated ballistic imaging technology for

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term ...

forensic science Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal ...

, and attorney agencies in the United States that have entered into a formal agreement with ATF to enter ballistic information into NIBIN. Partners use Integrated Ballistic Identification Systems to acquire digital images of the markings made on spent ammunition recovered from a crime scene or a crime gun test fire and then compare those images against earlier entries via electronic image comparison. If a high-confidence candidate for a match emerges, firearms examiners compare the original evidence with a microscope to confirm the match.

References

{{Reflist 1999 establishments in the United States Crime in the United States Forensic databases Forensic software

Organizational purpose

See also

References