Georgia Bureau of Investigation: commitment to law enforcement excellence since 1937

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BUREAU OF

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INVESTIGATION

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COMMITMENT TO LAW ENFORCEMENT EXCELLENCE SINCE 1937

MILTON E. Nix, JR.
DIRECTOR

RECEIVED
APR 3G1999
Documents
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GBI Headquarters Complex
The GBI is a statewide law enforcement agency that provides support and assistance to the entire criminal justice system in Georgia. The GBI consists of an Investigative Division, a Division of Forensic SCiences, the Georgia Crime Infonnation Center and an Administrative Section that provides various support services to the three divisions.
INVESTIGATIVE DIVISION
The Investigative Division of the GBI is comprised of 15 Regional Offices and three Regional Drug Enforcement Offices strategically located through out the state. The primary purpose of these offices is to support and assist local law enforcement agencies in a variety of criminal investigations, such as homicide, rape and child abuse. Agents from regional offices also provide instructional support to local police academies. Extensive efforts are made to combat the drug problem in Georgia through units that specialize in different areas of narcotics interdiction. The Regional Drug Enforcement Offices located in Gainesville, Macon and Savannah investigate major drug smuggling and traffick.ing cases. Additionally, task.

GBIAgents process crime scenes.
forces and specialized units are often formed to target specific drug and law enforcement issues. Some of the specializations include the Governor's Task Force on Drug Suppression, Special Response Team, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit, Financial Investigations Unit, State Health Care Fraud Control Unit, Crime Analysis Unit, and Polygraph Unit. The Investigative Staff Services (ISS) section provides certain administrative services to the other sections of the Investi gative Division. The focus of the AntiTerrorist Unit is on terrorists and militant organizations operating in Georgia. Wanted felons and escapees are tracked by agents of the Metro and Middle Georgia Fugitive Squads. Information regarding illegal activities is collected and analyzed by the Intelligence Squad.
GBI Agents are trained to perform various law enlorcement duties and specializations.

DIVISION OF
FORENSIC SCIENCES
Established in 1952 as the second statewide Crime Laboratory in the United Slates, the Divi sion of Forensic Sciences furnishes scientific support to the Criminal Justice System of Georgia.
Gal Firearms examiners test fire approximately 120
confiscated guns per week.
Laboratory scientists and technicians in specialized disciplines collect, analyze, and interpret all aspects of physical evidence for officers, investigators, and district attorneys throughout the state. The analyses employ the most recent scientific technologies and are performed on highly sophisticated instrumentation. Scientists are often required to present their findings in the form of expert courtroom testimony. Statewide availability of laboratory services are made possible through the headquarters laboratory in Atlanta and regional laboratories in Augusta, Columbus, Macon, Moultrie, Savannah and Summerville.

The specialized laboratory areas are: Criminalistics Examination. comparison and identification of physical evidence. such as hairs. fibers, and soil. Chemistry Section - Analysis and identification of suspected narcotics and other controlled substances, as well as paints and accetlerants. Firearms Identification Comparison of bullets and cartridge cases to the guns from which they were fired; utilization of the Integrated Ballistics Identification System (IBIS) monitored by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Implied Consent Determination of alcohol content in blood and bcx:ly tissues regarding "DUI' and related crimes; and the supervision of bfeathalcoholtesting instruments. Latent Fingerprints Collection, preservation, identification and comparison of fingerprints from crime scenes and physical evidence, utilizing the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS). Pathology Performance of autopsies to determine cause and manner of death; review, certify, and store records of deaths investigated by Medical Examiners. Photography - Photograph autopsies at request of Medical Examiners; process and print crime scene photographs. Questioned Documents - Examination and analysis of documents and handwriting samples in fraud, forgery and similar cases. Serology/DNA Detection, identification and individualization of biological nuids. Toxicology Isolation and identification of drugs and poisons from heman tissues.

DNA Scientists use sophisticaled instrumenlatlon and slate ofthe-art l~hnology.

GEORGIA CRIME INFORMATION CENTER
The Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC) was established in 1973 as the focal point forcriminal justice information services in Georgia. Since its inception, the primary mission of GCIC has been to be the statewide central repository for reported criminal history record information for all local law enforcement and criminal justice agencies. In addition, the Georgia Criminal Justice In formation System Network, operated by GCIC teleprocessing specialists, provides direct terminal access to computerized data bases maintained by GCIC and the National Crime Information Center. The more than 5,000 terminals currently on-line have the capability to communicate instantly with thousands of terminals operated by other federal, state, and local criminal justice agencies in Georgia and throughout the United Stales.
AFIS examiners analyze prints to determine if a match to an unknown print has bun found.
GCIC utilizes a state-of-the-art Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) to maintain the electronic files of approximately 2million prior

offenders. As a direct result of the contributions of state and local law enforcement agencies throughout Georgia, GCIC now ranks fifth in the nation in the number of criminal fingerprint records processed each year. GCIC is the first state criminal records repository to have a fully-integrated AFIS which creates and updates criminal history records electronically as a by-product of the fingerprint identification process.
Tile Firearms Program calls for Instant background checks on persons wishing to purcllase handguns from federally
licensed dealers.
Additional programs within GCIC include the Instant Background Check for handgun buyers and the Sexually Violent Offender Registry. The responsibilities of GCIC extend beyond Georgia as an integral part of a nationwide effort to centralize criminal justice information. Georgia law enforcement agencies are contributors to state and national Uniform Crime Reporting programs. GCIC receives standardized crime, clearance, and arresUbooking reports from more than 500 police and sheriffs' departments. GCIC also is responsible for the enforcement of slate and federal security and privacy laws and regulations. On-site audits of more than 600 federal, state, and local criminal justice agencies are conducted every two years to determine jf an agency is in compliance with the laws and regulations, including criminal history access and dissemination, training, and GCIC/NCIC record quality control.

Milton E. Nix, Jr. Director
Vernon M. Keenan Deputy Director
Investigative Division
Gibson N. Heuett Deputy Director Division of Forensic Sciences
Paul C. Heppner Deputy Director Georgia Crime Information Center
For copies of this brochure, contact: Public Affairs Office
Georgia Bureau of Investigation
P. O. Box 370808
Decatur, Georgia 300370808