Grantee Spotlight: Ball Brothers Foundation Board Tours Local High Tech Crime Lab
Following Ball Brothers Foundation’s February board meeting, members of the foundation’s board of directors and staff toured the new High Tech Crimes Unit housed within the Delaware County Prosecutor’s Office.
The High-Tech Crimes Unit is one of only 10 units in the state of Indiana. Filled with high-tech equipment, the unit serves as a central repository for law enforcement agencies across the region to send digital devices for forensic analysis—including cellphones, tablets, and laptops. The director of the unit, Chuck Zimmers, is aided by officers appointed by the Delaware County Sheriff’s Department and the Muncie Police Department who collect and analyze digital evidence in a range of criminal investigations including violent crimes, child pornography, theft, drug dealing, among others. And just as important as it is to find evidence that can be used in court by prosecutors, the departments are also able to work together to identify evidence on digital devices that can prove suspects’ innocence.
Prior to the local unit’s establishment in late 2021, digital evidence was sent to the Indiana State Police Cyber Crime Unit which often faces backlogs stretching 12 months or more for processing due to high demand. The new local unit serves additional counties across East Central Indiana including: Blackford, Fayette, Grant, Henry, Jay, Randolph, Rush, Union, Wabash, and Wayne.
Ball Brothers Foundation provided early funding for fighting cybercrime through an initiative the foundation launched in 2020 called “Project Sybertooth.” Funding was initially awarded to Ivy Tech to create three cybersecurity courses tailored for a cohort of officers from the Muncie Police Department, the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office, and the Ball State University Police Department. Additional funding awarded in 2021 and 2022 allowed these three law enforcement agencies—along with the Delaware County Prosecutor’s Office—to purchase equipment, obtain software licenses, build infrastructure for cybercrime internship opportunities, and pursue additional training.
This initial funding from Ball Brothers Foundation helped the Delaware County Prosecutor’s Office successfully compete with counties from across the state to house the new “High Tech Crimes Unit.”
“We know that people choose where they want to live based on a range of ‘quality of life’ factors. Perceptions about safety weigh heavily in where families choose to live and where businesses choose to locate,” reflected Jud Fisher, president and CEO.
“Ball Brothers Foundation is proud to help put Muncie on the map as a community that takes public safety seriously and as a place where local law enforcement agencies and the Prosecutor’s Office are leaders in fighting cybercrime. For aspiring cybercrime investigators and law enforcement officers, Muncie is the place to be.”