Dear Friend,
Our communities deserve to be safe. And I firmly believe one important way to achieve that is by prosecuting and solving more of the crimes that happen in our state. That’s why, last year, I was proud to secure over $1 million to establish a Crime Gun Intelligence Center within the New Mexico Department of Justice (NM DOJ), in partnership with New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez. The funds I secured also allowed for the purchase of four new National Integrated Ballistics Information Network (NIBIN) testing machines at the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office, the Gallup Police Department, the Roswell Police Department, and the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office.
Starting today, law enforcement will begin using this technology! The state-of-the-art approach will make New Mexico the first in the entire country to have a program like this, allowing our NM DOJ to assist state and local law enforcement agencies in analyzing weapons casings, prosecuting firearms offenses, and mapping ballistics in crimes across the state.
Now, instead of waiting weeks or even months to connect crime scenes based on recovered weapons, investigators can do it faster – in days, or even hours. And instead of law enforcement spending hours on the road to access the machines already in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, they will be able to use machines right in their region.
I am excited to see what we can do with these new resources, to continue delivering for every single New Mexican.
Sincerely,
MARTIN HEINRICH
United States Senator