CARICOM Fights Against Gun Crime
CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS), with financial support from the 10th European Development Fund Project (EDF) will deliver Double Casting training and donate equipment to Suriname to strengthen the State’s capacity to reduce gun crimes.
Participants at the four-day practical training course will receive advanced training on double casting techniques, consistent with international standards from Arquebus Solutions Limited– a UK based company specialising in ballistics intelligence. Double Casting is an internationally accepted, and Interpol approved, cloning technique used to replicate ballistic (bullets and cartridge cases) material through the creation of plastic copies.
Just as fingerprint data can link crimes and criminals across borders, so too can firearms ballistic data. Each firearm has a unique marking, similar to a fingerprint, that is left on a bullet or shell casing as it is fired, and which can be traced back to that firearm. The regional sharing of ballistic data can enable national authorities to find connections between cross border crimes.
Using the double casting process, national authorities will be able to create and send replicas of the original ballistic evidence across borders in quick time to link gun crimes, while keeping the original evidence and maintaining chain of custody.
This assistance package from CARICOM IMPACS to Suriname forms part of the expansion of the CARICOM Regional Integrated Ballistic Information Network (RIBIN) which allows national authorities in CARICOM Member States to share firearms ballistics intelligence and find connections between separate crime scenes from and within different countries.
CARICOM IMPACS will also donate Double Casting kits to Suriname, in addition to the equipment supplied for the training to enable national authorities to conduct the Double Casting, post training. Additionally, IMPACS’ assistance package includes continued post-training technical support from Arquebus to participants for the period of one year to ensure sustainability.
Speaking at the opening of the Training Workshop, Mr. Callixtus Joseph – Regional Crime and Security Strategy Coordinator, CARICOM IMPACS, stated that IMPACS is fully committed to assisting the Government of Suriname and strengthening the country’s capacity in reducing the scourge of armed violence in the Region. Mr. Joseph noted that gun violence is a sustainable development issue which undermines the quality of all our lives, and retards economic growth. He also urged participants to utilise the training received and take full advantage of the cooperation infrastructure of CARICOM.
Omar Terborg – Inspector of Police, Suriname, who spoke on behalf the Directorate of National Security, acknowledged the importance of this training in further assisting the Government of Suriname in its firearms control programmes. He indicated that the training and equipment would assist immediately in strengthening the Forensic Science Centre, in particular with linking and tracing armed crimes, as well as promoting of international standards.
For the month of July, CARICOM IMPACS has delivered similar training courses and donated equipment in Double Casting to national authorities in St. Kitts and Nevis, Dominica and Haiti. This assistance package from CARICOM IMPACS will enhance information and intelligence sharing in the Region.
With more than seventy percent (70%) of murders in the Region occurring through the use of firearms, the training will enhance the proficiency and competencies of national authorities to more effectively detect and solve gun crimes.
CARICOM IMPACS is the coordinating and implementation arm of the Region’s multilateral crime and security management architecture, specifically designed to administer a collective response to the crime and security priorities of Member States.
Members of the Media are asked to contact the Agency, if you require any additional Information.
Contact: IMPACS Secretariat, Tel: (868) 625-4441
Email: secretariat@carimpacs.org