[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 137 (Thursday, October 17, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10666-S10667]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
REALITY CHECK ON BALLISTIC IMAGING
Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, the Washington, DC, area is in the midst of
a terrible crisis. As we all know too well, a murderer has gunned down
nine people in cold blood during the past two weeks. Two other victims,
including a child, have by the grace of God survived these sick and
senseless attacks. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the bereaved,
even as we try to comfort and reassure our own families and
communities.
I am confident that the deranged person or persons causing all this
suffering will be caught. The attempt to hold this area hostage to fear
and intimidation will fail, and law enforcement officers will bring the
guilty to justice.
As investigators are running down tips and testing forensic evidence,
a sudden cry has gone up in some quarters demanding the dramatic
expansion of a process known as ``ballistic imaging.'' This technology
is a tool employed to assist law enforcement in the analysis of crimes
committed with a firearm.
I would like to take a moment to talk about this technology and make
sure all our colleagues understand its benefits and limitations. It is
easy for good people in the heat and emotion of these troubled times to
be swept away by apparently easy solutions to enormously complex
problems, and I believe that before we begin to think about expanding
ballistic imaging in the United States, we should first take stock of
what we do know.
Ballistic imaging technology can be a useful tool in the
investigation of crimes committed with firearms. As currently used,
forensic experts are able to electronically scan into a database a
shell casing recovered from a crime scene to determine if that case
matches those from other crime scenes. The technology can serve as a
starting point in assisting law enforcement in determining if the same
firearm was involved in multiple crimes.
The Federal Government has worked for nearly 10 years on developing
an imaging network. The National Integrated Ballistic Information
Network, NIBIN, administered by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and
Firearms, BATF, provides Federal, State, and local law enforcement
officials with critical ballistics information on crimes committed with
a firearm. This system matches shell casings recovered from crime
scenes to ascertain if a firearm has been used in multiple assaults. By
focusing strictly on cases recovered from crime scenes, NIBIN cannot be
used to build a database of firearm owners, thereby guaranteeing the
security and legal rights of millions of Americans who are law-abiding
gun owners.
How does it work? When a firearm is discharged, both the shell casing
and the bullet traveling down the barrel of the gun are imprinted with
distinctive marks. The bullet takes on marks from the barrel's rifling,
and the casing is marked by the gun's breech face, firing pin and shell
ejector mechanism. Some guns, such as revolvers or single-shot rifles,
might not leave ejection marks. These imprints are distinctive to a
firearm. A ballistic imaging program can run a casing through its
database and select those that offer a close match. A final
identification is made visually by a highly trained ballistic examiner.
This process does not lend itself to examining bullets from a firearm.
Often, bullets are severely damaged on impact. Bullets recovered are
usually examined visually by experts.
It is critically important to understand that this is not ``ballistic
DNA'' or ``ballistic fingerprinting.'' Unlike DNA or fingerprints that
do not change over time, the unique marks that can identify a
particular bullet or shell casing can change because of a number of
environmental and use factors. Barrels and operating parts of firearms
change with use and wear and tear over time. Moreover, a person can,
within minutes, use a file to scratch marks in a barrel or breech face,
or replace a firing pin, extractor, and barrel thereby giving a firearm
a completely ``new'' ballistic identity. In other words, imaging
remains a tool, but not a silver bullet, in criminal investigations.
Legitimate concerns have been raised about creating a national
database that would store ballistic images from all firearms sold. We
know that such a database would involve huge costs to the government,
firearms manufacturers, and customers. Furthermore, it raises questions
about a legal ``chain of evidence,'' i.e., how to handle and store
hundreds of millions of bullets or shell casings without exposing all
such evidence to attack by defense lawyers. It could also break
existing law by creating a database of law-abiding firearms owners and
prove much less effective than NIBIN.
A recent study completed by the California Department of Forensic
Services on creating a ballistic imaging network merely on a statewide
level stated: ``When applying this technology to the concept of mass
sampling of manufactured firearms, a huge inventory of potential
candidates will be generated for manual review. This study indicates
that the number of candidate cases will be so large as to be
impractical and will likely create logistic complications so great that
they cannot be effectively addressed.'' The study pointed out that when
expanding the database of spent shell casings, the system will generate
so many ``hits'' that could be potential matches, it would not be of
any use to forensic examiners. Other problems included guns making
different markings on casings from different ammunition manufacturers;
the shipping, handling, and storage of spent shell casings; the fact
that some firearms do not leave marks that can be traced back to that
particular firearm; and the requirement of highly-trained personnel for
proper operation.
What about the success rate of statewide systems already in
operation? Maryland introduced its own ballistic imaging system in
2000. Every new handgun that is sold in the State must be accompanied
by spent shell casings for input into the imaging network. According to
Maryland budget figures, approximately $5 million has been spent on the
system. According to Maryland law enforcement officials, it contains
over 11,000 imaged cartridges, has been queried a total of 155 times
and has not been responsible for solving any crimes. Meanwhile, in New
York, there have been thousands of cartridges entered into their
database
[[Page S10667]]
and, according to reports, no traces have resulted in criminal
prosecutions.
Let me raise one more concern. It is clear that any ballistic imaging
network would only be as good as the records it contains. While all the
proposals put forward deal with compiling information from new
firearms, today in the United States, it is estimated that there are
more than 200 million firearms in private hands. It would be impossible
to retrieve these firearms for ballistics documentation without
violating the constitutional rights of millions of law abiding firearms
owners.
All of these considerations should be food for thought to anyone
seriously contemplating a national ballistic imaging network. At the
very least, they support the conclusion that we should look, and look
carefully, before we leap into this system. President Bush is calling
for a study of the ballistic imaging technology, and so are some
members of Congress. For example, the Ballistic Imaging Evaluation and
Study Act, introduced in both the House and Senate by the bipartisan,
bicameral team of Representative Melissa Hart and Senator Zell Miller,
would order the Department of Justice to contract for a study by the
National Academy of Sciences, which would examine the many questions
surrounding imaging technology and provide a list of recommendations to
policymakers and Congress. Enacting legislation to begin a study of
this technology should be a priority. The proper allocation of dollars
to fight crime is critical to ensuring safe communities, and we should
obtain firm scientific conclusions on which to base decisions on how
best to deploy this technology.
____________________