New technology will allow suburban DAs to better trace illegal guns
Top prosecutors in Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties are partnering on a new database that will allow them to better connect and identify guns used in crimes.
Prosecutors in four suburban Philadelphia counties on Wednesday announced new “game-changing” technology that they say will help solve gun crimes in the region significantly faster.
Using federal funding, investigators in Montgomery County purchased a National Integrated Ballistic Information Network machine, which analyzes and compares bullet casings. The machine, when connected to a corresponding national database, will allow detectives to match fired casings with the guns they originated from.
The machine and its network will allow detectives in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties to quickly compare and analyze these projectiles, and can link illegal guns used across different counties in different incidents.
“With this NIBIN portal, Montgomery County and the surrounding counties are in position to be able to quickly respond to gun crimes that are linked together in a timely manner and disrupt the shooting cycle by these trigger pullers,” Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said. “We in Montgomery, Bucks, Chester, and Delaware Counties have not been immune to regional gun crimes and gun violence spilling over into our counties and all of us, along with our federal partners, are committed to responding vigorously and stopping this gun violence that threatens the safety of our communities.”
To supplement the new machine, Montgomery County is also creating a Gun Violence Reduction Task Force of more than 100 officers and detectives who will work together to build investigations from the leads generated by the NIBIN data.
When a shooting occurs and detectives recover fired shell casings, they can enter them into the database to see if they match guns used in previous investigations. Similarly, if detectives seize an illegal gun, they can test fire it as a possible match to guns used in previous shootings, according to Steele.
This matching can be done in as little as 48 hours, thanks to the new technology.
The tracing system is a facet of the Liberty Mid-Atlantic High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program, a federal initiative that helps local law enforcement collaborate on large-scale investigations. Twenty-two law enforcement agencies across nine counties belong to the program, which provides access to federal funding for specialized training, and allows prosecutors to use expanded intelligence-gathering and surveillance tools.