JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Law enforcement agencies in Jackson will receive new technology as part of a $675,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

This month, the DOJ’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) New Orleans Field will be deploying a National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) mobile unit to Jackson.

“As I move across the city from North Jackson to South Jackson, the number one complaint is shots fired, gun violence. It is traumatizing to these families. To experience death is brain trauma and generational trauma for these families. And I meet and talk with them almost daily. So, anything that we can do to improve our police service to the citizens of Jackson, I’m on board with it,” said Jackson Police Chief Joseph Wade.

NIBIN is a database of bullet casings recovered from crime scenes across the United States. Used casings have distinctive markings from the gun they were fired from, similar to a fingerprint. Investigators can check the database to see if the casings recovered from a crime scene were fired from a gun that may have been used in another crime.

“Timeliness is key in all of this. The quicker that we’re able to collect this evidence, get a process for naming, and then that lead is correlated at our correlation center. Now, we’re able to share that investigative lead back with that that investigative agency. Jackson PD, Capitol police, ATF or other federal partners. And then, we’re able to move forward a lot quicker. Also, this allows us, in some instances, actually prevent the next shooting that we have,” said Joshua Jackson, ATF special agent in charge.

The NIBIN seldom stays in one city for very long, but law enforcement officials believe it will make a difference while it’s in Jackson.

“Inflated docket that slows things down, slows processes down. We see backlogs across the board when you’re dealing with the criminal justice process. And technology like this is going to help increase our capabilities in bringing justice for these families in these victims involved in these violent crimes sooner than we have been able to in the past,” said Capitol Police Chief Bo Luckey.

Jackson and Capitol police will be able to use the system for the next couple of months.