New technology may help identify criminal suspects quicker in DeKalb

DEKALB, Ill. (WTVO) — The DeKalb Police Department recently received new technology to assist detectives in identifying weapons at a quicker-than-normal pace.

DeKalb P.D. was awarded a $25,000 grant from the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board to partner with Evidence IQ, a company whose mission is to analyze firearm evidence, accurately link spent casings to specific firearms and help solve gun crimes.

Evidence IQ has a program called Ballistics IQ which is a portable ballistics imaging device that generates rapid crime gun intelligence, therefore allowing law enforcement to make positive identifications of weapons at rapid speeds. Commander of Investigations Keith Ehrke said it will be a big improvement from the current system.

“Usually, we’re waiting months before we get those results,” Ehrke said. “At that time, we could be losing leads. Now we can get those results within 15 minutes, maybe even less. At that point, we can start getting leads almost immediately. It takes months off of the process.”

The device gives detectives a crime scene analysis report and allows officials the education to apprehend criminals. Ehrke further explained how the process would work.

“We can immediately put this (casing) in, and it can tell us how many guns were fired,” Ehrke said. “We would know how many weapons we’re looking for at this point, how many shooters we have involved in this case. If we do find somebody in the area with a firearm and we take that person into custody or we get a firearm off of somebody, we can immediately test that firearm, compare it with those casings. We would know in a matter of minutes to a couple of hours and have somebody in custody.”

Chief of Police David Byrd said DeKalb is the only department in the county with this technology, so they want to extend help to others when it’s needed.

“We’ve had our share of shootings in the city of DeKalb,” Chief Byrd said. “Of course, we’re not proud of that, but we’re doing everything we can to prevent those and to interdict those shootings, and this is a big part of it. We personally want to be able to assist any other law enforcement agency in the DeKalb County and beyond, if we can, if this technology would be beneficial to them.”

Ehrke said fortunately, the department hasn’t had to use it with many cases, but he said if and when they do, it could be an incredible asset.

“For years we’ve been trying to get some of the better technology to be able to solve cases faster,” Ehrke said. “This is one of those things that if it works, it’s going to be a game changer in law enforcement.”

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