Andy Smith, MS, is an Association of Firearm and Tool Mark Examiners (AFTE) certified Firearm and Tool Mark Examiner (certified in Firearms / Tool Marks / Distance Determination) and Supervisor of the Firearm and Tool Mark Unit at the San Francisco Police Department Crime Laboratory. He is also a past President of AFTE, having served from 2018-2019.  

Andy was the Chair of the Scientific Working Group for Firearms and Toolmark Examination (SWGGUN) as it transitioned into the OSAC framework, and after that transition served as the first Chair of the newly formed Firearm and Toolmark Subcommittee under the Physics and Pattern Scientific Area Committee.  He was appointed to the Forensic Science Standards Board (FSSB) in 2019 and currently serves as the AFTE representative as well as the current Chair of the FSSB.

Andy earned his B.A. degree from the University of Southern Mississippi and a M.S. in Forensic Science from the University of New Haven. He began his employment and training in the field of Firearm and Toolmark Examination with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Orlando Regional Crime Lab from 1999 to 2004.  2004 he left Florida for California and began his employment with the San Francisco Police Department. He has extensive knowledge and casework experience in firearms examinations, toolmark examination, serial number restorations, fracture / physical fit comparisons, and muzzle to garment distance determinations. In 2014 he was promoted to Supervisor of the Firearm/Tool Mark Unit of the Crime Lab in San Francisco.  Andy has also been trained and performs casework in primer residue testing and examination utilizing scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray analysis.   

Andy is a Technical Assessor for ANAB, serves as a member of the 3D Toolmark Technologies Technical Working Group, and is an instructor for the National Firearms Examiner Academy teaching the module on evidence admissibility.