MUNCIE, Indiana (CSU) – This week, the creation of a “high-tech criminal investigative team” in Delaware County Prosecutor Eric Hoffman’s office became a step closer to reality.
This year, the Indiana General Assembly approved a proposal by the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council to establish ten “regional centers… to aid prosecuting attorneys in investigating, gathering evidence, and prosecuting high-tech offenses.”
Delaware County was chosen as one of ten counties throughout the state to host a regional high-tech crime lab.
Delaware, Blackford, Fayette, Grant, Henry, Jay, Randolph, Rush, Union, Wabash, and Wayne counties will be served by the Delaware County High Tech Crime Unit.
Delaware County commissioners established a fund last week that will enable the state to deposit funds for the local unit. Hoffman’s office will get $285,000 a year from the state to run the unit.
Early in January, Delaware County Council will hold a special meeting to legally allocate the funds.
“After that, we’ll start buying over $150,000 worth of equipment and software that the unit will require to carry out its duties,” Hoffman added.
Hoffman and Chief Deputy Prosecutor Zach Craig have named Chuck Zimmers, a seasoned prosecutor’s investigator who is also the office’s in-house IT staffer, as the new unit’s director.
The prosecutor said, “We are in conversations with the sheriff and the chief of (the Muncie Police Agency) to have one officer from each department assigned to the team.”
With electronic devices, particularly smartphones, playing a role in many criminal investigations, the Indiana State Police Cyber Crime Unit has struggled to keep up with all of the digital evidence.
According to Hoffman, the regional centers should speed up such investigations.
“I think it will, without a doubt, result in settlement of criminal investigations being expedited,” he added.
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