Officers, Their Weapons and Their Hands: An Empirical Study of GSR (Gunshot Residue) on the Hands of Non-Shooting Police Officers

• NCJ Number: 159181
• Journal: Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 40 Issue: 6 Dated: (November 1995) Pages: 1086-1089
• Author(s): D M Gialamas; E F Rhodes; L A Sugarman
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 4 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

To help determine the potential of secondary gunshot residue (GSR) transfer from police officers onto subjects to be tested for GSR, this study evaluated the presence of GSR on non-shooting patrol officers' hands.

Abstract

A total of 43 officers were sampled with adhesive-lift discs, which were subsequently concentrated and analyzed by scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy microanalysis. GSR levels on the officers' hands were lower than expected, considering that a firearm was carried and handled by all officers. Only three of the 43 officers had unique GSR particles. No officer had more than one unique GSR particle. Twenty-five of the 43 officers had no particles of GSR on their hands. Although the potential for secondary transfer contamination from an arresting officer to a subject exists, the low empirical numbers of GSR particles found on these non- shooting officers suggest that the potential for this occurrence is relatively low. 3 figures, 3 tables, and 15 references