The Montreal company whose bullet-identification technology was used to hunt the Washington sniper has signed a contract that could be worth as much as $130 million with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Forensic Technology Inc. has signed a one-year, $20-million deal to provide a wide range of equipment, training and services for the ATF's National Integrated Ballistic Informational Network. The ATF has an option to extend the contract for another four years.
FTI's Integrated Ballistics Identification System equipment is used to analyze spent bullets and shell casings and match them to the weapons that fired them.
A decade ago, the analysis was done manually, using microscopes and a camera. Finding links betweens weapons and bullets could take months or years.
With FTI's computer technology, a search can be completed in hours. The company's equipment is used in 237 forensic labs across the U.S. and in 30 countries around the world.
"The problem with doing the work manually is that there are too many variables," said Robert Walsh, FTI's president. "Every jurisdiction has its own system which may or may not be accessible to other jurisdictions. Our technology is used in 35 jurisdictions in California and all of them can talk to each other."
The ATF and Federal Bureau of Investigation have registered more than 800,000 ballistic images. The database has been used to establish links between bullets and weapons in more than 16,000 cases across the U.S., including the sniper attacks that rocked Washington, D.C., last year. In Colombia, the system was used to link four seemingly unrelated shootings, including the killing of an anti-drug prosecutor.
FTI's relationship with the ATF began in 1993. It signed two previous five-year contracts with the bureau. The new contract came about after nine months of negotiations, Walsh said.
"We're always working to improve the speed and efficiency of the equipment," he added. "This is a fast-moving sector and there's no time to sit back."
FTI, which employs about 300 people, has offices in Florida, Washington, D.C., Ireland and South Africa, as well as an administrative and research-and-development office in Montreal
