Mr. Earl Thompson
Assistant Commissioner of Police
Scientific Support Services

Earl Thompson, Assistant Commissioner, Scientific Support Services and Criminal Records Office is a thirty (30) year veteran of the Royal Bahamas Police Force and a Firearm & Toolmark examiner by vocation; he possesses a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry from Florida Atlantic University.

He has given evidence with regard to firearm functionality for the past twenty-three (25) years and a firearm and tool mark examiner (“ballistic expert”) for the past twenty (20).

Over his career, he has worked at the Cable Beach Division, Central Division and the Forensic Science Section

He was the divisional commander of the Fox Hill Policing Division for two (2) years.

His training towards becoming a firearm examiner commenced in 1995 at the Forensic Science Section of the Royal Bahamas Police Force under the tutelage of the resident firearm examiner in the Bahamas. He interned at the firearms section of Metro-Dade Crime Lab in 1997, where his knowledge of firearms functionality and ammunition was successfully assessed in 1998 by six senior firearms examiners. He began giving evidence as a firearms technician, which entailed characterization of a firearm’s functionality in the same year.

His training continued under a Firearms Examiner and Forensic Consultant hired by the Royal Bahamas Police Force to conduct and complete the training of several officers at the time. He interned at two (2) Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) labs during this phase of training. The training culminated with a mock case and moot trial wherein he was deemed a firearms and tool marks expert in 2002.

During the summers of 2014 and 2015 he participated in a twelve (12) week training regimen at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms laboratory in Maryland, United States. The training encompassed fired bullet and fired cartridge case examination and comparisons, firearms functionality, tool marks examination and comparison, serial number restoration, distance determination, and shooting reconstruction.

He has participated in several firearm factory tours to observe the manufacturing process of firearms as well as participated in numerous training courses relevant to the discipline.
His training includes but is not limited to:

• Firearms and Explosives Course hosted by ATF
  Nassau Bahamas 1996
  
  
• Firearm Examiner Training
  Terrance Higgs (Royal Bahamas Police Force) &Terrance Lavoy (c/o T.A. Lavoy & Associates) - Completed 2002
  
  
• Gun Powder and Gunshot Residue Course
  Hosted by FDLE, T.A Lavoy and associates Southeastern Public Safety Institute
  St. Petersburg Florida 2002
  
  
• Weapons of Mass Destruction Countermeasures Responder Training Course
  Nassau Bahamas 2004
  
  
• Anti-gangs Forensic Training Program
  San Salvador, El Salvador 2010
  
  
• Seminar Caricom – US: Partnership to Combat Illicit Trafficking in Arms
  Nassau, Bahamas 2007
  
  
• Shooting Reconstruction Course
  Miami Dade Public Safety Training Institute 2011
  
  
• Association of Firearm and Toolmark Examiners (AFTE) Seminar
  Springfield Massachusetts 2006
  
  
• Shooting Reconstruction Course hosted by Henry Lee and Associates
  Nassau Bahamas 2009
  
  
• Interpol Firearm Forensic Symposium
  Canada 2013
  
  
• Two (2) six (6) week ATF Firearms and Toolmark Examiner’s Courses at ATF National Laboratory
  July 2014 & 2015
  

Firearm Factory Tours:
Remington Arms
Ruger Arms
Sigarms
Harrington & Richardson
Wilson Arms
Colt
Marlin Firearms
Wilson Arms

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