Certificates of Professional Competence in Firearms-Related Disciplines

Following recent market research (Bolton-King & Jackson, 2014), there was a high level of support and demand by professionals in the forensic firearms community to develop Certificates of Professional Competence (CoPC) in 4 areas as a high priority; legal classification of firearms, function testing, comparison macroscopy and gunshot residue analysis.
This presentation will officially launch the array of CoPC available through the Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences (CSFS) from October 2014 and indicate the applicability of each CoPC to a wide range of professionals within the firearms community. The stages, methods and levels of assessment for the CoPCs will also be outlined.
Competence testing through CoPCs has been designed for public and private organisations as well as sole traders. Successfully completing relevant CoPCs are a way of illustrating an individual’s on-going competence and a commitment to Continuing Professional Development. This will be of huge assistance to the court. This will be just one route to demonstrate competence when applying for the Accredited Forensic Practitioner category of CSFS membership.