Vanderburgh Co. law enforcement using new tool to lower violent crime

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) - Vanderburgh County law enforcement have a new tool they say will help reduce violent crime.

The National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) is a system that analyzes and matches shell casings from casings connected to other crimes.

“Simply put, crime gun intelligence is harnessing every bit of information out of every gun crime scene,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge Daryl McCormick. “It connects one shooting scene to another, or to multiple shooting scenes.”

Since Aug. 15, Vanderburgh County has been using a borrowed mobile unit. Nearly 200 NIBIN submissions were made locally, and 15% of those were connected to other cases. In some situations, the NIBIN system has led to arrests.

“Within two hours, a lead was sent to investigators linking the firearm back to the murder,” said John Nokes, the ATF Assistant Special Agent in Charge.

Here’s how it works. If officials recover a gun from a scene, they can shoot a test bullet into this device, located in the trailer.

They then take the shell casing and run it through a computer, which checks if there’s a match to a previous crime. If there is, that information is shared with investigators.

“What this does is allows us to zero in on the very few number of people who are causing the violence and the gun violence in our communities,” said McCormick.

As of Tuesday, local authorities graduated from the borrowed mobile unit, launching the permanent NIBIN system in Vanderburgh County’s ISP post.

“We will not rest in the fight to make the community safer and those who commit crime in Vanderburgh County are not making a wise decision,” said Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Diana Moers.

“We want to reduce the number of people who fall victim to gun violence. That’s not acceptable, it’s never acceptable,” McCormick said.

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