Law enforcement agencies in Ohio will be given more access to technology to help identify suspects involved in gun violence throughout the state. As part of the new Ohio Ballistic Testing Initiative, announced by state leaders this past week, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Ohio State Highway Patrol will be awarded $10.5 million to more than double the number of National Integrated Ballistic Information Network units. The units are used by firearm forensic scientists to analyze microscopic markings on bullets and shell casings from criminal investigations and compare them to firearm evidence connected to other crimes. DeWine told us if scientists find a match law enforcement can use the database as an investigative lead.
“When a crime is committed and we can trace it to that gun, that may help us find the guy that did that crime,” says Gov. DeWine. “And this is something that we will know will work. It has worked in the past, but unfortunately, many police departments do not have the equipment, they do not have the personnel, don’t have the time, the money to enter these guns into that database. So, this is how we get many of our violent criminals off the streets.”
The Ohio Attorney General's Office will place five new ballistics testing machines at the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation's crime labs in London, Bowling Green, and Richfield. Also, have transportable machines to test evidence on-site in under-served areas of the state.
