Fishers PD using new technology to test DNA samples in house

FISHERS — The Fishers Police Department can now test for DNA in just 90 minutes. The new technology is called Rapid it DNA. Fishers PD is the first agency in the state to utilize the equipment.

"Rapid DNA essentially allows us to build profiles of DNA in-house at a local level," Fishers Police Chief Ed. Gebhart said.

The $250,000 investment is only used in two other states right now, Arizona and Pennsylvania. Fishers PD says agencies that are already using the technology have seen an increase in solved cases.

" Every state that we spoke to as we were researching this project had nothing but positive things to say about it as far their crime stats and their ability to achieve DNA hits quickly and link crimes together at a higher rate of speed," Detective Sgt. Jim Hawkins with Fishers PD said.

Previously the Fishers Police Department would send the samples from crime scenes to Indiana State Police. That process took much longer than the 90 minutes the department is now waiting.

"We still send those samples off to them for confirmatory,” Chief Gebhart said. “But, we are allowed to make matches in-house and move in directions of either solving crimes or identifying people in some sort of disaster or crash or maybe something has happened where people need to be identified."

Before investing in the technology, they made sure it was accurate by comparing the results from the new machine to that of the Indiana State Police.

"We also conducted a validation study with the Indiana State Police lab to ensure that we are getting the same results on our DNA as they were and all of it was the same, " Hawkins said.

The department says this new equipment will not only benefit Fishers but surrounding agencies as well.

"We have helped agencies around us and we will continue to try and be community partners to both Indianapolis and Hamilton County," Chief Gebhhart said.

Rapid Hit DNA has been in use for a few months. Fishers Police say the technology can also be used to identify victims of things like crashes. They say the technology is much more commonly used in other countries. Mainly because some countries that utilize this technology don’t have DNA data basis like we do in the states.