Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, in connection with Attorney General Dave Yost and State Highway Patrol Superintendent Col. Richard Fambro, announced a new initiative to address gun violence-related crimes.
The state will give $10.5 million to the Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) and Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) to improve access to key technology for law enforcement throughout the state.
The expanded technology will allow officials to analyze bullets used in gun crimes in order to compare them to firearms used in other potential crimes.
The number of tools, known as National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) units, will be increased from seven to 16.
“We must do more to hold accountable the small number of dangerous criminals who are responsible for most of the gun violence in our state – the convicted felons who have lost their right to possess firearms, yet they continue to carry and use guns to hurt and kill people,” said Governor DeWine. “By more than doubling the number of NIBIN units in Ohio, we’ll give our local law enforcement partners easier access to this crime-solving technology to help develop investigative leads that result in arrests. With the help of this initiative, we are confident that more gunmen will be brought to justice, future shootings will be prevented, and lives will be saved.”
In 2021, gun-related deaths were almost at a record high, just two shy of the historic level reached in 2020.
“Every bad guy’s gun tells a story – and that story leads back to the bad guy. But it takes science and data and technology to be able to read that story,” said Attorney General Dave Yost. “Today’s initiative means more bad guys in prison, where they belong, and fewer guns where they don’t.”
— — —
Cooper Moran is a reporter for The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Mike DeWine” by Governor Mike DeWine and “Confiscated Firearms” by West Midlands Police Department CC2.0.
