Automated Firearms Identification refers to the use of computers to automate the process of matching a piece of recovered ballistic evidence (which can be either bullets or cartridge cases, or fragments thereof), against a database.
Automated ballistic identification systems
Every firearm leaves unique, reproducible markings on expended (used) bullet and cartridge cases that it fired. The barrel, firing pin, firing chamber, extractor, ejector and other parts of the gun leave these marks, called toolmarks, on the bullet and cartridge case faces. Individually and collectively, these markings function as the “ballistic signature” of the firearm.
Traditional firearms identification involves the use of a Comparison Microscope. A firearms examiner visually compares the ballistic signature of a bullet/cartridge recovered from a crime scene with those in the police files. This process and its outcome, while accurate and acceptable in court, is extremely time consuming. Because of this, its usefulness as an investigative tool is severely limited.
Automated Ballistic Identification Systems (ABIS) are specialized computer hardware/software combinations designed to capture, store and rapidly compare digital images of bullets and cartridge casings.
ABIS have four key components: The Ballistic Scanner, which captures the images of the bullets and cartridges The Signature Extraction Unit, which uses a mathematical algorithm to extract unique signatures from the images Data Storage Unit, which serves as the main storage, The Correlation Server, which handles the actual comparison of images.
United States
Automated Firearms Identification has its roots in the United States, the country with the highest per capita firearms ownership. In 1993, the Federal Bureau of Investigation commissioned Mnemonics Systems Inc. to develop Drugfire, which enabled law enforcement agencies to capture images of cartridge casings into computers, and automate the process of comparing a suspect cartridge against the database. Drugfire was later upgraded to handle bullet imaging as well.
Also in 1993, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms established its own automated ballistics identification system. Instead of having a custom-made system like the FBI however, ATF opted to build their network on a platform developed by Forensic Technology WAI Inc., a private Canadian company. At the time, the FTI platform was named Bulletproof, and imaged only bullets. It was later upgraded to handle cartridge casings as well, and was then subsequently renamed as the Integrated Ballistics Identification System (IBIS).
From 1993 to 1998, the United States had two automated ballistics identification systems in place: Drugfire, which was under the FBI, and IBIS, under the ATF. Although there were attempts to interconnect the two systems under the National Integrated Ballistic Identification Network (NIBIN), the FBI and ATF finally decided in 1999 to phase out Drugfire, and standardize NIBIN on the IBIS platform. This decision was arrived at after a thorough joint FBI-ATF evaluation revealed the superiority of IBIS over the other system.
The adoption of IBIS as the NIBIN standard propelled Forensic Technology as the world’s biggest manufacturer of automated ballistic identification systems. As of 2016, there are more than 700 IBIS systems installed in more than 60 countries worldwide.
Other systems
There are other ballistic identification systems in the market, such as ALIAS by Pyramidal Technologies Ltd, Russia's ARSENAL by Papillon Systems, POISC by SBC Co. Ltd, BalScan by Laboratory Imaging and EVOFINDER by SCANBII Technology. The only one that took serious percentage of the market is EVOFINDER. Since 2006 the installations of the system were increased and the sales are growing, especially in the European market. The company managed to establish a combination of high quality image captures in 2D and 3D, great correlation results, compact size of the system and reasonable price. Some of the countries and services where adopted the system are Switzerland/Zurich, Germany/B.K.A, Brazil/POLICIA CIVIL, Germany/ LKA Magdeburg, Germany/ LKA Munich, Switzerland / KAPO, Malaysia, Brazil/Goyania, Colombia, Belgium, Slovenia, Brazil/ Federal Police, Germany/LKA Düsseldorf, Finland, Greece, Kazakhstan, Germany/LKA Brandenburg, Nicaragua, France / I.R.C.G.N, and others. The other systems however, were never able to penetrate the international market to the same degree as Forensic Technology and SCANBII. Consequently, the installed base of these systems is smaller in comparison.