KCBA - Monterey, Salinas, Santa Cruz - News Weather-A Look Into The Art Of Ballistics Testing
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SALINAS, Calif.- As Salinas police continue to investigate and hunt down the gunmen in the latest round of gang-related shootings in the city this last week, a certain type of forensic testing is underway.
The job falls in the lap of one man, who carefully examines specific types of evidence deep in the heart of the Salinas Police Department. Amid his piles of cases and stacks of evidence, Ofc. Neil Herrier examines all bullets, shells, casings and guns from different shootings to try and find leads for investigators.
He pieces together clues from the weapons either taken from suspects or those seized by police. He gets everything from handguns to AK 47's to SKS assault rifles.
Deeper into the depths of the Salinas Police Department, Herrier tests out a nine millimeter handgun and an AK 47 rifle Thursday. Both of the guns he holds were taken off Salinas' streets just weeks ago. Herrier said he's looking for the "so called" fingerprint that the weapon leaves behind on the bullet. This sometimes leads to clues that there was more than one gun used.
"They'll have the rifling impressions from the gun itself, so that's the way to tell which bullet fired from which gun," said Herrier.
After a round of gunfire and gathering the bullets, Herrier then enters the data into a national ballistics database. Last year, in Salinas alone, nearly 300 guns were seized off the streets. Herrier said he was able to find more than 70 links connecting some of the weapons to other cases.
"It's a valuable tool, by in putting the ballistic data from cases and the system is then able to link various crimes to the same gun, "said Herrier.
Herrier's IBIS Unit investigates more than just Salinas gun crimes, he covers 14 agencies including Watsonville to Soledad.
