West Virginia facility aids Minnesota in tracing gun crimes

In a facility in West Virginia, efforts are underway to assist Minnesota law enforcement agencies in tracing the origins of firearms involved in crimes. The center, managed by Neil Troppman, aims to process trace requests efficiently, with a target turnaround time of 48 hours and an internal goal of 24 hours. However, the center faces significant challenges, including a backlog of approximately 30,000 boxes of records waiting to be processed, as well as the increasing volume of trace requests, projected to reach a record-high of 670,000 this year. The tracing process involves locating and searching through these boxes manually, which can be time-consuming, especially since over half of the requests pertain to businesses that have gone out of operation. The center's output is around 250,000 scans per day, but it receives an average of more than that amount in incoming documents. This discrepancy has led to a strain on resources and infrastructure, with the facility's floors buckling under the weight of the records. Moreover, the accuracy of the tracing process is heavily reliant on the record-keeping practices of gun dealers. Approximately 19% of trace requests encounter issues such as incomplete or damaged records, or unresponsive dealers, complicating investigations. Each trace request holds the potential to provide crucial information that could help solve a case. As police departments in Minneapolis and St. Paul receive the information from these traces, they can utilize it to further their investigations, highlighting the importance of this tracing center in the broader context of gun crime resolution.