<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0dzOkP_1GxcUR2400" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0dzOkP_1GxcUR2400" width="400" height="225" >PRICHARD, Ala. (NBC 15) — More than 1,500 firearms recovered from the Prichard Police Department’s evidence room are being test-fired as investigators look for possible connections to shootings and other crimes.The Mobile County Sheriff’s Office began the large-scale testing Tuesday, Nov. 10, at the Mobile County Metro Range. MCSO said in a news release that about 1,800 firearms were included in its inventory. Sheriff Paul Burch described the group as “well over 1,500” guns.The evidence review followed a federal investigation into the Prichard Police Department. In June, federal agents searched police headquarters and arrested officer Emanuel Dotch on a criminal complaint alleging civil rights violations, bribery, evidence tampering and extortion. The allegations have not been proven in court. MCSO took over day-to-day law enforcement duties and began cataloging evidence at the department. During that review, officials identified 247 sexual assault kits; 148 had not been processed and were transferred to the FBI for testingThe operation brings together local and federal law enforcement agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service, Mobile Police Department, Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, FBI, U.S. Attorney’s Office and Mobile County District Attorney’s Office.Investigators will inspect each firearm and test-fire those deemed safe. They will then enter eligible ballistic evidence into the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, or NIBIN, which helps law enforcement agencies compare evidence from firearms and crime scenes to look for potential links.“We’re going to be running the over 1,500 guns seized from Prichard through a test firing system to see if we can relate those to any other crimes within Mobile County or outside of Mobile County,” Burch said. “We won’t know that until that process is completed.”The sheriff said firearms are routinely brought to the range for testing after they are seized in a case, usually within days. The difference this time is the number of guns involved. Testing was expected to take all day, even with personnel from multiple agencies helping.The sheriff’s office spent months inventorying, labeling and securing the firearms after MCSO took over law enforcement operations in Prichard. Burch said it took several days to prepare the guns for transport to the range and set them up for testing. They will have to be transported back to the sheriff’s office afterward.Each firearm will be inspected before it is fired. If a gun appears unsafe, investigators will not test-fire it, Burch said.The inventory also raised questions about how the firearms were tracked. Burch said the oldest documented firearm has a case number dating to 2001. Many others have no case number attached, so investigators do not know why they were seized or how long they have been stored.“It’s just astonishing the fact that they’ve just sat in a room,” Burch said.The sheriff’s office hopes the testing will help identify firearms connected to other crimes. It also wants to determine whether any were stolen and can be returned to their rightful owners, as long as those owners can legally possess them.The sheriff’s office says its evidence room is not equipped to routinely handle this volume of firearms. Once testing is complete, guns not connected to other crimes may be destroyed or disposed of in another way, but only after the sheriff’s office obtains a court order.As of the end of the work day November 10th, 1,200 firearms had been shot.</div></body>

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PRICHARD, Ala. (NBC 15) — More than 1,500 firearms recovered from the Prichard Police Department’s evidence room are being test-fired as investigators look for possible connections to shootings and other crimes. The Mobile County Sheriff’s Office began the large-scale testing Tuesday, Nov. 10, at the Mobile County Metro...

After years in evidence, seized Prichard firearms undergo ballistic testing

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PRICHARD, Ala. (NBC 15) — More than 1,500 firearms recovered from the Prichard Police Department’s evidence room are being test-fired as investigators look

After years in evidence, seized Prichard firearms undergo ballistic testing

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