CINCINNATI — Deadly gun fire and mass shootings have investigators trying something different to fight it: They’re opening new crime gun centers across the state.

There’s now one in Cleveland, Columbus and the first was in Cincinnati. Spectrum News 1 got a behind-the-scenes look at how they're tracking and connecting gun crimes. 

What You Need To Know

  • The Crime Gun Intelligence Center in Cincinnati has been up and running since 2021; officers said it has helped them trace leads after shootings 

  • Officers shoot guns recovered from the crime scenes and look at the shell casings under a microscope to identify the guns 
  • Officers use that information and put it into a crime data base that they used to see if the gun has been used in other crimes

Lt. Eric Vogelpohl’s team shoots guns from the crime scenes to get one crucial piece of evidence, shell casings.

“We'll take them, put them under a microscope and will be able to determine just by looking at them what type of firearm was used in the offense," said Vogelpohl. 

He said his team is looking for three unique marks under the microscope that identify the gun and how many might have been used in the crime. 

Then they literally connect the dots. The evidence is turned into crime data they use to see if the gun is linked to any other gun crimes.

“We try to just go backwards to try to figure out who our victims are, what suspects we have, camera footage," said Vogelpohl.

It’s all happening at the Crime Gun Intelligence Center in Cincinnati. It's the first of three in the state. It’s been up and running for the least three years, and Vogelpohl said it’s helped prevent gun violence and stop serial shooters.

“It’s helped us basically develop leads that we wouldn’t have had. We get leads every single day — they're not all workable leads, but there are leads that we maybe one gun is three leads, tomorrow is four leads and the next day we have six leads. And then the more information you get, the more you can go back and do the investigation," said Vogelpohl.

But they have to work fast, within 24 hours from the crime scene to evidence to data they can use to stop a shooter.

In order to do that, he said they have to team up.

“We work in collaboration with the Cincinnati Police Department, the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives), Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, Homeland Security, the prosecutor's office, federal prosecutors, local city prosecutors, as well as our juvenile prosecutors and then we also have University of Cincinnati — they validate our data,” said Vogelpohl. 

It's all an effort to prevent another shooting.

The Crime Gun Intelligence Centers are a part of a national initiative to reduce violent crimes.