MURFREESBORO, Tenn, (WGNS Radio) - The landscape of modern law enforcement continues to shift rapidly, and local authorities are increasingly relying on a sophisticated web of interconnected technologies to stay ahead of criminal activity. In recent investigative successes, the Murfreesboro Police Department has integrated real-time data, advanced camera systems and community partnerships to apprehend suspects in high-profile cases that once may have taken weeks or months to resolve.
One powerful example of this high-tech synergy occurred during a recent investigation into two smash-and-grab burglaries at gun stores. During the first break-in at Black Frog Arms & Range on North Thompson Lane in Murfreesboro, suspects rammed a vehicle through the front of the business and then ransacked the store. In that incident, the culprits were decked out in Tyvek jumpsuits, allegedly to reduce the risk of leaving DNA evidence behind. The precaution was good, but MPD Chief Michael Bowen said it was not good enough...
When a similar crime unfolded at another firearms dealer in Murfreesboro, the suspects in the second smash-and-grab evidently forgot their sporty Tyvek attire. They could be seen on security cameras wearing basic street clothes, although they were wearing ski masks and gloves. This time, the suspects rammed a similar make and model Kia SUV into Mid-Tenn’s Pawn & Loan on Northwest Broad Street. After the vehicle backed away from the shattered window, they made their way inside. Like masked ninjas in the night, they ransacked the store, grabbing dozens of handguns and rifles.
At least six suspects appeared to be involved in the heist, with as many as two of them waiting outside, tasked with serving as lookouts and driving the getaway vehicle. After grabbing the firearms and exiting the store, the suspects made their way to the waiting vehicle, which fled the scene with the stolen guns in tow. At the time, they likely believed they had gotten away scot-free, but their freedom did not last long.
In these two gun-store burglary cases, it was not DNA that helped investigators identify the suspects believed to be tied to the crimes. Instead, their identities were ultimately confirmed through a series of video recordings that began in Nashville. According to police, license plate readers installed at a Davidson County apartment complex captured the license plate of a vehicle entering the property. That vehicle later left the complex at about the same time a stolen vehicle departed from the apartment complex... That was MPD Capt. Clayton Williams.
Murfreesboro Police used privately operated license plate-reader cameras at the Nashville apartment complex, along with the department’s important public-private partnerships, to identify a vehicle belonging to one of the suspects. The license plate reader aided police in locating one of the vehicle's owner - leading detectives to a suspect. This immediate digital footprint allowed investigators to piece together the timeline of the crime with incredible precision. Murfreesboro Police Chief Bowen said...
The Murfreesboro Police Criminal Investigations Division, along with a crime analyst working inside the Real-Time Crime Center, collaborated to capture the teenagers and adults accused of literally bashing their way into the stores on North Thompson Lane and Northwest Broad Street... Again, arrests were made in the gun store smash-and-grab cases (See article HERE).
When discussing the large amount of information collected inside the Real-Time Crime Center, the police chief emphasized that the data is not being misused. He told WGNS that search warrants are properly obtained and that additional safeguards are followed...
Beyond license plate readers, camera footage and other technology, MPD is also moving toward the use of Rapid DNA testing. The electronic testing devices are being provided to the department at no cost while it participates in a documented research program connected to a university in Illinois. Once the testing program ends, the MPD will be permitted to keep the equiptment.
While traditional DNA processing at state laboratories can take months, Rapid DNA technology allows local police departments to process certain samples in a fraction of that time. Authorities anticipate that the technology could be a game-changer for high-volume crimes such as neighborhood vehicle break-ins and burglaries, which are often committed by small, highly active groups of repeat offenders. However, law enforcement officials emphasize that technology does not replace traditional police work.
While tools such as license plate readers, gunshot-detection software and Rapid DNA processing provide invaluable starting points, detectives must still perform the exhaustive work of securing search warrants, conducting interviews and building legally sound cases. As these technologies continue to evolve and become more financially accessible to mid-sized police departments, the message to would-be offenders is becoming increasingly clear: In the modern digital age, escaping the grid is becoming virtually impossible.
