Topic: Anticipated Firearms and Toolmark Examiner Opening

[Jill Dupre]

  Harris County Sheriff’s Office
Regional Firearms Identification Laboratory

Anticipated Firearms and Toolmark Examiner Opening
(Estimated Opening Date: August – September 2009)

Position: Firearm and Toolmark Examiner

Salary:  $58,427 - $68,161 annually
Benefits: include excellent retirement plan, deferred compensation, fully paid health, dental and vision coverage for employee. Two weeks vacation initially, increasing to five weeks. Sick leave accruing at 3 hours biweekly, maxing out at 480 hours. Eleven paid holidays per year. Opportunity for compensatory time and paid overtime, as grant funding allows. The laboratory has individual work spaces and comparison microscopes for each examiner.

Location: Harris County Sheriff’s Office, Regional Firearms Identification Laboratory, J.A.J. Forensic Center, 1885 Old  Spanish Trail, Houston, TX 77054

Primary Responsibilities:
•   Laboratory Examination Responsibilities include:
     a.   Forensic examination and comparison of firearm and   firearm-related evidence
     b.   Serial number restoration
     c.   Distance approximation
     d.   Forensic examination of tool mark evidence
•   Prepare detailed technical reports outlining the results of examinations along with the supporting documentation.
•   Provide clear and concise courtroom testimony as an expert witness related to examination procedures and results.
•   Must remain abreast of advances in examination techniques and changes within the firearms industry.
•   Familiar with the Integrated Ballistics Identification System (IBIS), to include:
     a.   Ability to properly enter and image specimens into the system.
     b.   Ability to review and evaluate the correlation results.
     c.   Provide support to remote sites and other agencies entering specimens into the system.
•   Respond to crime scenes to provide technical assistance as directed by the Crime Scene Unit Supervisor.
•   Must be available for after-duty hour call out/or shift assignment. 

Education/Experience Qualifications:
•   Must have a minimum of a Bachelor of Science degree from an accredited institution with a major in a natural or physical science. (Forensic Science, Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, etc.)
•   Seven (7) or more years of experience can substitute for education requirements.
•   Have successfully completed a training program equivalent to the Association of Firearms and Tool Mark Examiner’s Training program along with successfully completing competency testing. Completion of the National Firearms Examiner’s Academy along with appropriate competency testing will also meet the training requirement.
•   Candidate must have also completed at a minimum a period of one (1) year of supervised case work and possess the ability to thoroughly and accurately examine complex case work specimens under minimal supervision and direction.
•    Candidate must be court qualified. 
•    Candidate must be able to provide copies of training records and associated competency and proficiency test results.
•     Preferred experience having worked in an ASCLD/LAB crime laboratory.

Contact Information:

   Jill Dupre, Firearms Examiner
   J.A.J. Forensic Center
   1885 Old Spanish Trail
   Houston, TX 77054
   Phone: (713) 755-6750
   Fax: (713) 797-9279
   E-mail: Jill.Dupre@sheriff.hctx.net

   Robert D. Baldwin, Laboratory Manager
   J.A.J. Forensic Center
   1885 Old Spanish Trail
   Houston, TX 77054
   Phone: (713) 755-6750
   Fax: (713) 797-9279
   E-mail: Robert.Baldwin@sheriff.hctx.net


The Harris County Sheriff's Office is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE).

Employment with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office is contingent upon successfully passing both a polygraph examination and drug screening.