Forensic Equipment

The purpose of the New York City Police Department’s (NYPD) proposed project is to combat the issue of the recent increase in shooting incidents and homicides in New York City. Over the last five years (2017-2021), New York City has seen a 98% increase in shooting incidents. In 2021, there were 1,561 shootings in New York City out of a total population of 8,804,190 people. Furthermore, shootings in the Bronx continue to rise with a 23.4% increase year-over-year. With the increase in shooting incidents and the availability of better technology, it’s imperative the NYPD adapt to the situation in order to avoid a backlog in the examination of ballistic-related evidence.

            The plan is to add four additional types of equipment, which can be used to examine ballistic evidence. By acquiring the critical investigative equipment mentioned above, the NYPD Forensic Investigations Division will be able to handle the increase of incoming evidence more efficiently, while also concurrently decreasing the backlog cases. This project will allow for shorter turnaround times of ballistic and crime scene intelligence and will aid field investigators with much needed intelligence enabling them to properly link shootings and recovered firearms to open shootings.

            The addition of the proposed equipment should lead to an increase in the number of ballistic-related evidence examined. Additionally, there should be an increase in the number of prosecuted gun charges due to the upgraded equipment with will allow forensic examiners to better explain collected evidence to Judges and Juries.