Travis County Sheriff’s Office Forensic Science Improvement Grant Program

The primary scope of this proposal is to enhance the Travis County Sheriff's Office (TCSO) Forensic Services Division. The objectives are to purchase and establish a firearm test firing station near the TCSO Forensic Services Division; test fire all seized and found guns that are brought in as evidence; and work through a significant backlog of untested guns that meet criteria for testing.

TCSO personnel will test fire all potential crime guns, to include seized and found guns, and submit the casings to Austin Police Department (APD) to scan the resulting casings with BrassTrax and entry into the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) for correlation. TCSO Evidence personnel will continue to conduct forensic testing consistent with best scientific practices to include fingerprinting and DNA collection as requested by investigators. An advantage of centralizing the test firing station near the Forensic Services Division is the time reduction in testing of seized or found guns and subsequent entry to NIBIN. Investigators can quickly follow up on NIBIN leads to investigate recent shootings, determine the sources of crime guns, link otherwise unrelated shooting crimes, and identify violent suspects for priority proactive investigations. TCSO will also be able to work through the nearly 3,000 untested guns in evidence backlog meeting all established objectives.  

The test firing station will be in a standalone structure to enhance safety and security for the test firing of guns. The bullet trap system is designed to eliminate lead dust hazards to protect the staff as well as eliminating environmental and health safety hazards with its self-contained system. The spent cartridges that are not necessary for forensic testing may then be recycled at a metal recycling location thus creating a low waste cycle. The bullet trap system can handle an extensive variety of ammunition calibers that will meet the needs of TCSO.

If awarded this funding, the goal of this project will be to promptly test fire seized and found guns and submit the casings for NIBIN entry. This will allow for NIBIN-linked shooting suspects to be quickly identified and allow for prosecutors to build strong criminal cases against offenders, with the ultimate goal of firearm related crime reduction.