DELAND, Fla. — The Volusia Sheriff’s Office has a new tool to help in crimes involving guns.
The technology is called IBIS ClearCase, made by a company called LeadsOnline.
According to the company, the technology can be used to quickly examine bullet casings from a crime scene, and determine the number and caliber of firearms used.
“It allows you to triage casings much faster than a human could and at much greater speed,” said VCSO crime scene investigator Cole Bitner. “There’s 20 slots on the carousel. We only put three in for this purpose, but you can do up to 20 at once and it only takes minutes.”
Also provided is a mobile app which allows Bitner, for example, to take photos of casings at a scene of a crime.
Tubes are also made available to preserve DNA and other evidence.
“I’m utilizing the ClearCase app to place a sticker on the actual casing holder, which then scans to the app,” Bitner said.
A detailed report is then shown on a web portal, which Bitner says “allows you to view what you have acquired ... and then it gives you a full report on the possibility of how many firearms could have been used.”
This information can help with cases across the nation.
“The ClearCase allows us to get presumptive leads on what casing could have come from different firearms, which then allows us to input the best casing and the most accurate casing into NIBIN for the national database to be compared nationally,” Bitner said.
Capt. Paul Kammerer said Cole is one of eight crime scene investigators the Volusia County Sheriff's Office has.
As this technology is being put to use, the Sheriff’s Office officials say they hope that other law enforcement agencies follow suit.
“It cuts down on manpower time and also the error rate is near nothing, as opposed to the human eye,” Kammerer said. “Ultimately, we’d love for all the police agencies in Florida to be on LeadsOnline. So, all the crime sharing makes things easier.”
According to information from LeadsOnline, there’s no specialized training required for this new technology.
