How San Juan County mobile ballistics lab will play big role solving shootings, gun crimes

While San Juan County’s mobile ballistics investigative unit sat gleaming in the sun behind him, Alexander Uballez, the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico, did his best to remind his listeners that fancy new equipment alone can’t solve crimes during a Monday, May 13 news conference.

“The National Integrated Ballistics Information Network machine is not a Magic 8 Ball,” he said during the gathering outside the Lee Acres station of the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office. “You can’t shake it, and out comes a suspect.”

But the mobile lab — which has been available to law enforcement agencies in the county since Feb. 23 — can be a significant tool for investigators battling what they call a surge in violent crime in New Mexico.

“Basically speaking, these are devices that can help solve shootings,” said Brendan Iber, a special agent in charge for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the agency that brought the mobile unit to San Juan County with the aim of more quickly processing ballistic evidence in the area.

Before the lab came to San Juan County earlier this year, there were only four National Integrated Ballistics Information Network units in the state, Iber said — three with the Albuquerque Police Department and one with New Mexico State Police. But thanks to funding that was secured partially through the efforts of U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-New Mexico, four more such units soon will be deployed across the state, he said.

Lab offers law enforcement a tool to help solve crime

The first of those arrived in San Juan County in February, although that unit will be replaced by a different one soon, officials said. Iber said the mobile ballistics processing labs have a huge role to play in helping tell the story of what happened during a violent crime even if no witnesses cooperate, in addition to linking what might otherwise appear to be unrelated crimes.

Uballez said the mobile labs are important, but they are only part of a comprehensive approach to crime solving.

“This can’t be done alone,” he said, noting that the participation of the community as a whole and cooperative between law enforcement agencies is crucial to the effort. “We work better when we work together.”

New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez singled out staff members at the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office and Farmington Police Department for embracing the technological advantages the mobile unit offers. He said the unit offers law enforcement agencies a tool to disrupt violence as it is happening.

The mobile unit already is having an impact in San Juan County, according to Sheriff Shane Ferrari and Chief Steve Hebbe of the Farmington Police Department. Ferrari said his investigators have matched four rounds that were recovered and processed through the lab to other shootings, while Hebbe said his department has identified three such hits.

Ferrari said he was very excited about partnering with ATF officials on the mobile lab when he was approached with the idea and quickly agreed to provide a home for the unit. He noted the lab is not just an initiative of San Juan County, but a crime-fighting tool that potentially could benefit every law enforcement agency in the area, explaining that it will help investigators keep better track of individuals coming and going in communities throughout the Four Corners.

“Being able to have this kind of tool … is really going to give us a leg up,” he said.

Commitment to fighting gun crimes

He also noted that the mobile lab — which carries a six-figure price tag, according to Resident Agent in Charge Patrick Henning of ATF — is not something local law enforcement agencies could have acquired on their own.

“Financially, this is not something we would have been able to afford within our own budgets,” he said.

More: One year later, Farmington Police reflect on 2023 mass shooting

Hebbe echoed that point.

“The fact they were able to pull it off is fantastic for our community,” he said, noting that the addition of the lab as a crime-fighting tool should make every citizen more confident that San Juan County is not being ignored by government officials elsewhere.

The chief noted his department is particularly committed to battling gun crimes, especially as this week marks the anniversary of the May 15, 2023, mass shooting in Farmington in which three elderly women were killed and two police officers were shot and wounded.

Torrez said he didn’t know when San Juan County’s permanent mobile lab would arrive. He said it takes approximately six months to fully outfit the vehicle with equipment even after the funding for it has been secured.

Torrez said he hoped the new lab would be here by the end of the year.

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This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: Mobile ballistics lab already having impact in San Juan County