Governor launches Southwest Ohio branch of Narcotics Intelligence Center

The chief said West Chester Police Department is excited to have access to such an exceptional crime fighting tool right in its backyard.

“We have spent funds and obtained grants to train our own officers in this technology, however maintaining the equipment and expertise has become difficult,” Herzog said. “ONIC has the experts ready to effectively and expeditiously download, analyze, and report information back to local law enforcement to lock down a solid criminal case to ensure a conviction.”

Since the ONIC’s inception, intelligence analysts and forensic specialists have assisted in nearly 2,000 criminal investigations involving the extraction and analysis of more than 4,300 cellphones, more than five million images and videos, and more than five million text messages.

“I think it will significantly aid law enforcement with their capacity to perform forensic analyses on multiple types of electronic devices, including cell phones,” said Knippen. “Additionally, the analysts that work at the center will be able to extract multiple data points (text messages, location services, etc.) and distill that information and put it into a format that will help prosecutors more clearly tell the story to the jury of what occurred leading up to and during the commission of the offense. Overall, we are very excited about the possibilities of this new center to aid in holding people accountable for their crimes.”