King publishes on solving crime with ballistics imaging

Newly published research in the journal Crime and Delinquency shows how information from forensic crime labs helps police detectives solve violent firearms crimes. The research, which involved a team of five universities including Boise State, used information from 570 gun-related crimes that occurred in Indianapolis, Kansas City and Phoenix.

In all three cities, the forensic crime lab may link different gun crimes to each other by matching tool marks on ballistics evidence that is left at crime scenes, a technique called ballistics imaging. Ideally, information produced by ballistics imaging is then used by detectives to advance investigations by identifying, arresting and prosecuting suspects.

The study found that more timely production of information from ballistics imaging was helpful to detectives in all three cities.

William King

"Although we have long assumed that more timely information is more helpful to investigators, this is the first study to establish the relationships among timeliness, utility and case outcomes," said William King, one of the study authors and professor of criminal justice at Boise State. "The findings are important because they direct crime labs to focus on improving timeliness, and they direct police agencies to focus on ensuring the quick communication of forensic information to detectives."

This study builds upon 20 years of ballistics imaging and gun crime investigations research conducted by King.

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