Arms, ammunition, explosives and incident management
solutions to meet international standards
© Centre for Armed Violence Reduction – 2024
Each state agency can choose an ArmsTracker configuration to suit, for example Police, Military or Customs, then select only the features it needs. We configure every installation to match local laws and procedures, then we help the client to migrate any existing data. Available functions currently include:
The heart of any arms control system, record-keeping is the most requested category of international donor assistance. One UN report found that: ‘transfer controls, marking and record-keeping, as well as tracing… are often neglected or under-developed... poor record-keeping remains one of the primary shortcomings among States'.
ArmsTracker is the world's most affordable record-keeping solution designed for small arms, light weapons, ammunition, and explosives.
If required by legislation, ArmsTracker can identify and store photographs of each officer, private individual or legal entity authorised to use or possess a specified arm or category of arms. State and agency licences can be issued to a rank or position, such as station commander or armourer. Every weapon can be separately identified, photographed and registered, along with any ballistic images of expended projectiles or casings.
ArmsTracker follows each registered arm as it transfers from one licence holder to another. A tamper-protected database maintains a chain of evidence and a history of personal responsibility for each arm all the way from import or seizure to export or destruction. E-mail reminders can be sent to expired licence holders, reducing the number of unlawfully held weapons while recovering compliance costs.
A secure asset management system for small arms, light weapons, ammunition, and explosives, ArmsTracker controls inventory for military units, police stations, Customs import/export comptrollers and registers of civilian firearms. No outsider has any access to the client's registry, and no data can be shared unless the owner adds a feature to do so. The ArmsTracker database exists only on the owner's premises, and only the owner can configure security settings and encryption. As with other downloadable software, periodic ArmsTracker updates cannot access a client's data.
ArmsTracker is a potent tool for limited-resource law enforcement agencies to detect and prosecute arms trafficking. It quickly identifies illicit arms and helps transnational crime operations trace weapons back to their origin. Incident reports include photos and GPS coordinates, with all data designed to contribute to international tracing and mapping mechanisms such as iARMS (Interpol) and iTrace (Conflict Armament Research).
Thanks to a partnership with the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, ArmsTracker can classify most of the world's commercially available small arms by maker, type, action and calibre. When an unknown firearm is located or seized, ArmsTracker can also link to international law enforcement firearm identification libraries. These describe the world's small arms by manufacturer, brand, model, action and markings, often with photographs. Accurate identification can validate both international tracing requests and local records of seized firearms awaiting judicial process, destruction or other disposal.
ArmsTracker generates instant reports for management, or to inform other government departments. Without sharing their own confidential data, separate state agencies can deliver anonymised, but compatible statistics for use in reports to international instruments such as the Arms Trade Treaty, the UN Register of Conventional Arms and UN Security Council Arms Sanctions. Templates for popular reports are included, and ArmsTracker exports its data in common file formats.
ArmsTracker staff can help to import and re-code legacy data from popular database, spreadsheet and file formats. To assist state agencies to migrate records from existing systems without the data leaving their premises, initial import scripts can be written for each client to run on their own files. If an agency requires complex or large-scale migration and cleaning of existing data, additional funding may be sought to engage local staff or contractors.
All ArmsTracker data is stored in SQL, the world's most commonly used database format. This allows almost infinite scalability to proprietary or open-source platforms on local or wide area networks, intranets and cloud-based web apps. All networking, security protocols, encryption and remote storage are entirely at the discretion of, and under the control of, the state agency which owns the data. As technology evolves, ArmsTracker data will not be left behind.
Under development are web apps for all popular devices to input data and interact from remote locations. Future developments will include connections to biometric identification systems, barcode readers, photographic ID card printers, e-manifests for exports and imports, community reporting of illicit arms and GPS mapping of illicit weapon hotspots.
We welcome new ideas.
Arms, ammunition, explosives and incident management
solutions to meet international standards
Get in touch and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. We look forward to hearing from you!
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