Ballistics and its contributions to criminal investigation

Abstract

This research paper explores the importance of forensic ballistics as a criminalistics discipline in the field of criminal investigation, particularly in the early stages of the process. It reviews the history of the discipline, referring to the first empirical contributions made, and explains how its scientific approach evolved. This is a branch of forensic science that focuses primarily on the analysis of firearms and the effects produced by a shot, both on the firearm itself and on the outside world—that is, on the environment and on the object against which the bullet impacts. Despite the success of this science and the reliability typically generated by ballistics expertise, it highlights certain challenges that Ecuadorian forensic society still faces due to various causes, such as a lack of specialization, insufficient resources or adequate equipment to conduct forensic examinations, and insufficient standardized protocols for sample collection and evidentiary preservation. The importance of aligning this investigative technique with international standards and strengthening the national regulatory framework that governs it is emphasized, so that the effectiveness of the expert report is indisputable and the certainty regarding the facts or criminal liability is increasingly reliable.