National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN)
Purpose
In 1999, ATF established and began administration of the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN). In this program, ATF administers automated ballistic imaging technology for NIBIN partners: federal, state and local law enforcement, forensic science, 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 (IBIS) 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 (in a matter of hours) against earlier NIBIN 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 or NIBIN hit.
A hit is a linkage of two different crime scene investigations by NIBIN participants where previously there had been no known connection between the investigations. A hit is a linkage between cases, not individual pieces of evidence. Multiple casings/bullets may be entered as part of the same case record. In this event, each discovered linkage to an additional case constitutes a hit. The NIBIN partner that confirms the hit in NIBIN is credited with the hit.
By searching in an automated environment either locally, regionally, or nationally, NIBIN partners are able to discover links between firearms-related violent crimes more quickly, including links that would never have been identified absent the technology.
NIBIN partners must enter into an agreement with ATF to use the IBIS systems to a reasonable degree, share hit information with other NIBIN participants, enter as much ballistic information from shooting scenes as possible, provide adequate staffing to operate the systems, fund new user travel for a one-week training course, possess a casing/bullet recovery system for firearms test firing, and employ or have access to a certified firearms examiner to complete microscopic comparisons.
ATF oversees a NIBIN Executive Board, as well as the NIBIN Users Congress that comprises federal, state, and local law enforcement representation that recommends and provides guidance to ATF regarding NIBIN operations; rules, regulations, and procedures; ballistic imaging technology, standards, applications, and networking.
Authority
In 2001, U.S. Department of Justice and Department of the Treasury directed that their law enforcement components enter ballistic information into NIBIN.
NIBIN acquisitions are expressly limited to ballistic information from firearms test fires and spent ammunition taken into law enforcement custody pursuant to a criminal investigation. Since 1979, ATF’s annual appropriations have prohibited the expenditure of funds for consolidating or centralizing federal firearms licensee acquisition and disposition records.
Therefore, NIBIN cannot be used to capture or store ballistic information acquired at the point of manufacture, importation, or sale; nor can it be used to capture purchaser or date of manufacture or sale information.
Goals
- Coordinate the comprehensive NIBIN entry of all ballistic information (suitable for NIBIN entry) taken into federal, state, and local law enforcement custody in order to identify all possible links to violent crime shootings.
Statistics
- 155 NIBIN partner agencies
- 93 NIBIN locations
- 235 NIBIN (IBIS) systems
- NIBINpartners have completed more than 2 million acquisitions
- NIBIN partners have confirmed more than 40,000 NIBIN hits
Most Successful NIBIN Partners
- New York City Police Department: 2,500 plus hits
- Ill. State Police-Chicago: 2,100 plus hits
- Allegheny County (Pa.) Medical Examiners' Office: 2,000 plus hits
- Miami-Dade Police Department: 1,400 plus hits
- Philadelphia Police Department: 1,300 plus hits
- Santa Ana (Calif.) Police Department: 1,100 plus hits
- Newark Police Department: 1,200 plus hits
- Los Angeles Police Department: 700 plus hits
For more information on NIBIN go to www.atf.gov.
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