The Scope and Implications of a Tracing Mechanism for Small Arms ...

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21 industry and trade groups. ATF is electronically linked via computer to several of the main firearms producers in the US, permitting virtually instantaneous access on a 24-hour basis to important trace information. Many other countries also have substantial national resources for tracing. In the UK, police can make use of the National Firearms Tracing Service (NFTS), based at the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS). In Canada, the RCMP has developed substantial resources including a photographic database to assist with firearms identification, known as the Firearms Reference Table (FRT). This catalogues over 22,000 types of firearms and SALW, and is regularly updated. Police can gain remote access to this system through secure Internet channels, enabling them to make online comparisons between the weapons they are examining and the FRT catalogue. 37 The FRT is currently being upgraded and incorporated into the Interpol International Weapons and Explosives Tracking System (IWETS), enabling on-line access from the Regional and National Central Bureaus (NCBs) of all Interpol members. The RCMP are also making the FRT catalogues available to OAS member countries, through the Regional Clearing-House Project discussed in section 1.4. These examples show how information technology allows tracing centres of different countries to share resources for weapons tracing. Interpol has a total of 179 NCBs worldwide. It directly facilitates firearms tracing for its members through the Arms Section of the Public Safety and Terrorism Sub-Directorate, which issues trace requests to member countries on behalf of other members. Through Interpol’s Orange Notice system, a national police authority can circulate information by fax and e-mail to all other NCBs with a request to check whether they have recovered any weapons produced or trafficked using the modus operandi identified with a suspect illicit manufacturer or trafficker. Interpol also offers its members the IWETS system mentioned above. This analytical database is designed to collate information on illicit firearms trafficking worldwide and can help track stolen and recovered weapons. IWETS is currently being upgraded to allow the use of information technology that will enable NCBs to electronically request and exchange text and digital imagery to facilitate weapons tracing.
22 Though such systems have great promise, tracing cooperation among law enforcement agencies remains quite patchy in practice. Interpol is basically a facilitating organization; its value to members depends on their capacity to use it. Developed countries tend to use Interpol channels and resources more regularly than others. Yet, even in these countries, police authorities prefer bilateral contacts where these are established. The infrastructure required for effective weapons tracing is not particularly expensive. For example, the cost of the US NTC—by far the largest such centre in the world—is approximately US$15 million per year, plus an additional US$5 million to support major projects. However, experience shows that effective tracing does require a significant investment of resources and attention in certain key areas, even after basic infrastructure is in place. Tracing must be reliable and timely. Law enforcement officials typically face acute time constraints in their pursuit of specific criminal investigations. They must have reasonable confidence that weapons traces will be satisfactorily completed within the lifespan of an active investigation before they will give them much attention. For this reason, it is important to move beyond “bare bones” tracing systems to ones in which records are computerized and access to them by law enforcement officials is facilitated through simple electronic links and at least some degree of centralization. Awareness-raising and resources are also needed to encourage law enforcement officers to conduct weapons traces systematically, so that the information needed to identify patterns and trends in sources and lines of supply is available. Developing and sharing law enforcement data going beyond the specific trace (for example, recovery location, possessor, associates, dealers) can allow links to be spotted and contribute to crime prevention and enforcement. The development of systems for web-based record-keeping and tracing, which are also interoperable with such other record-keeping systems as fingerprint and DNA databases, also appears increasingly desirable and feasible. 38 Where tracing systems are reasonably well-established, the most common reason for their failure appears to be inaccuracies in the identification and description of the relevant weapon. This demonstrates the need for accurate, comprehensive and easily accessible reference materials, such as Canada’s Firearms Reference Table, discussed above,
Page 1 and 2: UNIDIR/2002/20 The Scope and Implic
Page 3 and 4: CONTENTS Page Preface. . . . . . .
Page 5: v Chapter 4 Structures and Institut
Page 8 and 9: viii point of diversion, thus inhib
Page 11 and 12: ACRONYMS ATFUS BATF BPA CFR CFR CIC
Page 13 and 14: xiii VIN WFSA WIES WR Vehicle Ident
Page 15 and 16: 2 and lines of supply of illicit SA
Page 17 and 18: 4 First, if a weapon has been invol
Page 19 and 20: 6 The UN Programme of Action includ
Page 21 and 22: 8 1.3 MARKING 1.3.1 Introduction A
Page 23 and 24: 10 uniquely identify each productio
Page 25 and 26: 12 • Ensure, at the time of trans
Page 27 and 28: 14 • increasing the resistance of
Page 29 and 30: 16 The UN Firearms Protocol, in its
Page 31 and 32: 18 component of this project is to
Page 33: 20 They clarify whether a weapon is
Page 37 and 38: 24 have a more prominent role to pl
Page 39 and 40: 26 That said, national intelligence
Page 41 and 42: 28 training and technical assistanc
Page 43 and 44: 30 This highlights one of the most
Page 45 and 46: 32 An international tracing mechani
Page 47 and 48: 34 Some of the necessary elements a
Page 49 and 50: 36 on sources and lines of supply o
Page 51 and 52: 38 In promoting international assis
Page 53 and 54: 40 3 Programme of Action to Prevent
Page 55 and 56: 42 25 This section draws on discuss
Page 58 and 59: 45 BIBLIOGRAPHY Berkol, Ilhan, Mark
Page 60 and 61: CHAPTER 2 WHAT TO MARK AND WHAT TO
Page 62 and 63: 49 tracing method for all SALW (con
Page 64 and 65: 51 Figure 2: : The different sub-ca
Page 66 and 67: 53 In order to better grasp the pro
Page 68 and 69: 55 SALW include weapons of war, def
Page 70 and 71: 57 The following questions should t
Page 72 and 73: 59 All of this data, while useful f
Page 74 and 75: 61 2.5 WHAT ARE THE CRITERIA FOR IN
Page 76 and 77: 63 traced, but which ones? Precisel
Page 78 and 79: 65 Table 1: Firearms recovered in c
Page 80 and 81: 67 explosives belts and dozens of t
Page 82 and 83: 69 This data provides an interestin
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71 weapons belonging to illicit cir
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73 imagine being able to effectivel
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75 case of Switzerland, it would be
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77 electronics in animal identifica
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79 based our reflection on goals fo
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81 10 Small Arms Survey, Annuaire s
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APPENDIX 1 83
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APPENDIX 3 85
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87 the army weapon is capable of au
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90 significance, hence in general t
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92 3.1.2 Sanitization Removal or ob
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94 Chinese Type 56-1 Unique Identif
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96 verify that the imported weapons
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98 weapons. There are risks involve
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100 China Type 56 Russia AK47 Russi
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102 channels, with the protection o
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104 3.1.9 Comments Countries seekin
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106 as a result, potentially tip-of
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108 2. All markings must be made pe
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110 shared encryption standard. The
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112 Domestic record-keeping varies
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114 Nevertheless, whilst the Wassen
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116 individual weapon, should as a
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118 • “Consolidation”—4 x 2
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120 With the scope of the Protocol
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122 The South African authorities a
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124 • (Tracing) Details of all st
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126 tracing Chinese weapons. Conseq
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128 circulating information by fax
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130 Tracing requests are normally c
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132 encourage countries along the t
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134 close enough to provide adequat
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136 3. If Interpol is not up to the
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138 which restrict the amount of in
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140 9 It was notable during negotia
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142
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144 There are other reasons as well
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146 Laws Firearms are a durable com
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148 This last point should not be u
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150 the future a firearm tracing qu
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152 There are several important ele
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154 Canada, nearly all transfers re
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156 accuracy and man-hour effective
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158 industry practices. An effectiv
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160
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162 manner in national (and possibl
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164 routine stockpile management. A
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166 International regulations on th
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168 2. The definitions of weapons,
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170 enable national authorities to
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172 serial number of the firearm. T
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174 9. Explosives: the recommendati
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176 • The States parties undertak
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178 • The following is establishe
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180 International regulations on th
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182 • The participating States ag
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184 The Convention on Plastic Explo
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186 5.3.1 European Joint Action The
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188 years in July 2001. In December
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190 • States must make efforts to
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192 a greater degree of harmonizati
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194 this may lead to the undesirabl
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196 28 Or at least difficult or imp
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198 49 Speech by Mr. Koffi Adjouman
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200 in its capacity as President of
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202 Table 1: Scope of the Seven Pri
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204 Table 1 (continued) Characteris
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206 Characteristics of the marking
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208 Characteristics of the marking
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210 Characteristics of the recordke
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212 Characteristics of the record-k
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214 Table 4: Comparison of the Stan
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216 Characteristics of the exchange
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218
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