The Berks County District Attorney’s Office unveiled a firearms discharge laboratory Thursday at the Berks County Agricultural Center, marking a significant enhancement in the county’s ability to swiftly investigate and prosecute gun-related crimes.
Funded through a $552,341 grant awarded by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency’s (PCCD) Gun Violence Investigation & Prosecution (GVIP) Grant Program, the new laboratory is part of a broader initiative aimed at reducing gun violence in Berks County and beyond. The grant, awarded in January 2023, also enabled the hiring of a part-time firearms examiner to bolster the lab’s capacity.
The lab’s centerpiece is a 40-foot modified shipping container equipped with a range of high-tech features, including a 3/8-inch AR500 steel ballistic shell, a HEPA-filtered HVAC system, and a bullet recovery tank. These features not only ensure the safety of the lab personnel but also enhance the precision and efficiency of firearms testing. Before the construction of this facility, firearm examiners had to travel to off-site locations to conduct test fires, which often delayed the investigative process.
“Previously, we had to travel to another location to arrange test fires of firearms,” said Sergeant Justin Morrow of the Berks County District Attorney’s Office. “Now, with this new facility, we can quickly process firearms evidence and conduct tests in a controlled, safe environment. The shooting room is steel-plated with ballistic armor, and we use a water tank to safely recover bullets for analysis.”
Jessica Kennedy, a firearms examiner with the Berks County District Attorney’s Office, highlighted the immediate impact the lab is having on their operations. “I can examine all the evidence in this shooting discharge lab immediately as soon as a case comes in. I can test right away, collect the test casings and bullets, and compare them to other evidence in the case,” Kennedy explained. “Previously, I had to shoot outdoors in the snow and rain, sometimes when other police departments were qualifying with their firearms. Now, we can conduct these tests indoors, in a controlled environment, which significantly improves the speed and accuracy of our work.”
The lab also features a staging area with a sink for washing hands, a computer, and a phone, enabling examiners to access case information in real-time and communicate more effectively. The separate shooting room is reinforced and soundproofed, containing a steel-reinforced water tank designed to safely slow down bullets for evidence collection.
“Any firearms that are collected are entered into the national database as soon as possible after the incident. We can now enter them within two days of the incident and get the samples to our technicians in an indoor facility,” Kennedy added. “This is a game-changer for our ability to process and analyze ballistic evidence efficiently.”
The establishment of this facility marks a significant step forward for the Berks County District Attorney’s Crime Laboratory (BCDACL), one of only five accredited crime labs in Pennsylvania. Serving nearly forty local law enforcement agencies throughout Berks County and surrounding jurisdictions, the BCDACL is now better equipped than ever to handle the increasing demands of firearms examination and contribute to the ongoing effort to reduce gun violence in the region.
The expected outcome of this project is not just improved analysis of ballistic evidence, but also more effective investigations and continued successful prosecutions of gun crimes.
