SAVANNAH, GA (July 29, 2015) – This afternoon the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms presented an award to the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department for its successful use of the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN).
NIBIN is a national law enforcement database of digital images of spent bullets and cartridges that are found at crime scenes or test-fired from confiscated weapons.
ATF Resident Agent in Charge Tim Graden presented Forensics Unit officers with the “100 Hits” award for making 100 ballistic matches. The ATF gave SCMPD the NIBIN terminal in November 2014; to date the SCMPD has accrued 169 ballistic matches.
Forensics detective APO Russell Champion manages the system. “This is about as CSI as you can get,” he said. “This is cutting-edge technology and we have it at this department. It is an important tool because it allows us to target violent offenders and gun-related crimes.”
Currently 180 agencies across the country are using NIBIN.
Accepting the ATF award were Chief Joseph H. Lumpkin, Sr., Major Richard Zapal, Sgt. Scott Coleman, Sgt. Timmy Thompson, Cpl. Joe Bejnarowicz, Cpl. Robert Axelsson, APO Russell Champion, APO Todd Selva, APO Mark Allgaier, and APO Marie Anderson.
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