EAC Regional Forensic Referral Centre acquires state of the art Ballistics Identification Equipment
The EAC Regional Forensic Referral Centre (RFRC) located in Kampala, Uganda is set to receive a state-of-the-art Digital Ballistics Identification System (DBIS) compatible with the INTERPOL Integrated Ballistics Identification Network in the course of December 2016.
The Regional Forensic Referral Centre, which was designated through a proposal by the EAC Police Chiefs in 2011 as a Regional Centre of Excellence on Forensic Science, will be receiving the equipment from Ultra Electronics Forensic Technology of Dublin, Ireland at a cost of Euros 897,553 only.
EAC along with COMESA, IGAD and IOC have been implementing a joint cross regional project aimed at curbing maritime insecurity in the Indian Ocean. The Project whose implementation commenced in 2013 was a response to the acts of maritime piracy that had bedevilled the Somali Coastline and by extension the Indian Ocean and received EU support to the tune of Euros 37.5 Million spread over a five year period.
The EAC component included among others enhancement of investigative capabilities of the investigative authorities in the Eastern and Southern African-Indian Ocean (ESA-IO) region to effectively investigate maritime insecurity incidents. To this extent and acknowledging the use of firearms as a primary facilitator of criminal incidents, there was expressed need for establishment of modern ballistic examination and analysis capabilities. Thus the acquisition of the DBIS has been funded by the Project.
The equipment, which comprises a Bulletrax Station, a Brassstrax Station, a Match Point plus Station, a Data and Correlation Station, and a Server, was subjected to rigorous pre-shipment inspection and pre-testing by a team from the EAC Secretariat and RFRC on 28th November 2016, in compliance of the contractual terms.
The Secretariat Team led by the EAC Peace and Security Expert, Mr. Leonard M. Onyonyi; the Head of the RFRC in Kampala, Assistant Inspector General of Police, Samwel Ezati; and the Head of Ballistics at the RFRC, Ag. Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mutuya Umar, are in Dublin, Ireland concluding the exercise today (29th November 2016), after which the equipment will be shipped to Uganda.
The Commissioning is expected to take place in February 2017 after which Partner States will as they may deem necessary take advantage of the facility for analytical purposes.
This is the only second such equipment in the EAC Region, the other being operated by the Kenya Police Service. The facility will also be used to impart ballistics training for Partner States deficient of the capacity.