Crime Gun Intel Centers

The Local Law Enforcement Crime Gun Intelligence Center Integration (CGIC) Initiative isn't a firearms business—it's a federal law enforcement program. Administered by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), a component of the Office of Justice Programs under the U.S. Department of Justice, CGIC provides competitive grant funding to state and local governments experiencing significant increases in gun crime.

Working in partnership with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), CGIC funds jurisdictions to implement comprehensive models that reduce violent crime and illegal firearm use by enabling them to integrate with local ATF Crime Gun Intelligence Centers. The program focuses on three critical activities:

• •Intelligence gathering using ballistic evidence from crime scenes
• •Technology deployment including NIBIN (National Integrated Ballistic Information Network) access and eTrace databases
• •Community engagement to drive information sharing and accountability

The CGIC model operates through a proven workflow:

1. Evidence collection: Every qualifying firearm taken into police custody and casings recovered from shooting scenes are documented 2. Test firing and database entry: Firearms are test fired and entered into NIBIN for ballistic comparison 3. Lead generation: Hits and correlations identify connections between seemingly unrelated shootings and trace guns to their first retail purchasers 4. Investigation and prosecution: Law enforcement and prosecutors use actionable intelligence to pursue armed violent offenders, illegal possessors, and firearms traffickers 5. Partner coordination: Ongoing collaboration between local police, ATF, federal prosecutors, probation/parole, crime labs, and community groups

CGIC funding has been awarded to jurisdictions nationwide experiencing precipitous gun violence increases:

CGIC jurisdictions leverage multiple integrated systems:

• •NIBIN (National Integrated Ballistic Information Network): Ballistic imaging and comparison database
• •eTrace: ATF's firearm tracing system for investigating gun sources
• •ShotSpotter: Gunshot detection technology for real-time incident identification and response
• •Brasstrax units: Automated NIBIN entry systems for faster case processing
• •Comparison microscopes: High-powered equipment for detailed ballistic evidence analysis
• •Strategic Decision Support Centers (SDSCs): Data and technology hubs for pattern analysis and deployment coordination

BJA offers two types of CGIC funding:

1. Standard grants: For jurisdictions establishing or significantly enhancing CGIC operations 2. Expansion grants: For established CGIC sites looking to scale successful programs to additional areas

Funding typically supports:

• •Dedicated ballistic technicians and forensic staff
• •Crime analysts focused on gun intelligence
• •Equipment (NIBIN units, test firing chambers, microscopes)
• •Technology systems (ShotSpotter expansion, surveillance)
• •Administrative support for data management
• •Training and professional development
• •Overtime for investigative follow-up

CGIC success depends on effective collaboration. Agencies partner with ATF Task Force Officers, federal prosecutors, local crime laboratories, probation and parole, community organizations, and academic research partners.

Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) formalize information sharing agreements between local police, federal agencies, prosecutors, and neighboring jurisdictions—critical for regional coordination when guns cross jurisdiction lines.

CGIC jurisdictions track performance metrics including:

• •Timeline to actionable intelligence: Response time from crime scene to investigative lead (industry standard: within 5 days)
• •NIBIN correlations: Number of ballistic matches linking otherwise unrelated crimes
• •Crime gun recoveries: Firearms identified and removed from street use
• •Case closure rates: Impact on clearing shooting crimes through investigation
• •Prosecutions: Successfully prosecuted gun offenders, including violent repeat offenders and traffickers
• •Conviction rates: Enhanced by scientific ballistic evidence in courtroom prosecution
• •Violent crime reduction: Demonstrated decreases in homicides and non-fatal shootings

CGIC operates under guidance from the National Crime Gun Intelligence Governing Board, which established best practices now implemented across participating jurisdictions. This ensures consistency in workflow, evidence handling, data analysis, and inter-agency coordination.

Even if a jurisdiction doesn't receive CGIC grant funding, the National Policing Institute welcomes and encourages other agencies to participate by requesting direct support. This allows smaller police departments and rural jurisdictions to access CGIC methodologies and partnership networks.

Crime gun intelligence addresses a fundamental law enforcement reality: the same firearms are used repeatedly in multiple crimes. By creating systems that rapidly identify these connections, link crimes, and trace guns to their sources, CGIC enables law enforcement to prosecute not just individual shooters, but the broader criminal networks and trafficking operations fueling gun violence.

• •The result: More effective prosecution of violent offenders, faster case resolution, removal of armed criminals from communities, and disruption of the illegal firearms trade that supplies them.