ATF Gun Probes ‘Impeded’ by $85M Contract With Forensics Firm

In 2019, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) renewed its $85-million contract with Ultra Electronics Forensic Technology for five years. As one of the first companies to develop a way to collect and compare images of bullets and shell casings, the forensics technology company has been used to solve gun crimes.

However, the ATF’s deep-rooted connection with Ultra Electronics Forensic Technology has likely impeded law enforcement’s ability to investigate shootings at a time when gun violence is surging, reports the Daily Beast.

An internal report commissioned by the ATF issued a dire warning six years ago, saying that if the agency continued to contact with the company, it would drive competition and thereby lowering prices, enabling many police departments access to the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, or NIBIN, for the first time. This would spurring innovation because with a long-standing contract, it would impede the need to further the science.

An independent researcher with knowledge of ballistics-imaging systems and NIBIN said sticking with just one vendor is harmful because “Locking the database of digitized ballistics images, and giving the only key to the sole vendor, impedes innovation,” as quoted by the Daily Beast.

The researcher also said an “obvious solution” would be for ATF to make a sample of images in the existing database available to prospective vendors, so they could work on making their images compatible.

When a gun is fired, it leaves a unique marking on the shell casing it ejects. Images of those casings make up the NIBIN database. Pictured: A microscope in the Contra Costa lab for examining bullets. Photo by Cayce Clifford/The Trace

To that end, when looking for other venders before signing the current contract, the ATF reportedly issued a “request for information” for other venders.

However, two people with knowledge of the bidding process told The Trace it would have been “extremely difficult for a company to meet the criteria for the contract without access to the proprietary database.”

Despite the recommendation, the Daily Beast details that it was ignored, and Ultra Electronics Forensic Technology is now tied to the ATF for another few years, raising concerns that cronyism could have colored the agency’s decision-making.

Further alarm bells can be identified in terms of the ATF’s relationship with Ultra Electronics Forensic Technology, seeing that several former ATF officials, including the agency’s acting director of four years, have gone on to work for Ultra Electronics.

While the agency has appeared to “follow the letter of the law” when it comes to government contractors, experts still say it raises concerns.

Craig Holman, a governmental ethics and lobbying expert for the nonprofit consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen says it could give the “appearance of selling government contracts for personal gain.”

Several former ATF and NIBIN officials have denied that anyone at the ATF favored Ultra Electronics for the promise of a future job, claiming the decision was made because it was simply easier to maintain the current contract and only deal with one company, even at the possible cost of a better program.

Asked why the advice and timeline outlined in the report was not followed, an ATF spokesperson said in an email, as quoted by the Daily Beast, “The evolution of the program has significantly changed from 2015. The program continues to assess and shift based on the current climate and priorities of the future and current NIBIN partner sites.”