BEAVER, Pa. — Closing more cases faster is the goal of a new rapid DNA machine in Beaver County.
“So we are swabbing the ridges for any rough spots of the gun where skin cells may collect,” a detective told Channel 11.
That is the highest chance of getting DNA off any gun found by police. The goal with that DNA is to match it to a suspect and ultimately close a case. It’s a process that can take up to nine months in local counties as evidence is sent out to a PSP crime lab.
“The days of waiting months and months for DNA hits are hopefully in the past and now you can get those answers in an hour and a half,” said Beaver County DA Nate Bible.
That all changes with this new Rapid DNA machine tucked in the corner of the Beaver County evidence room.
“When we are talking about interpersonal crime, 90 percent of them are people that you know so usually we have some sort of suspect developed and it’s extremely helpful to cross check those immediately almost with things found on the crime scene,” said Patrick Young who is the Chief Detective in the Beaver County Detectives Bureau.
It could be blood, skin cells or even saliva and in just 90 minutes this machine will tell you if it’s a match to a potential suspects sample.
“The goal here and what we attempting to do is to leverage technology to get justice for our victims in a much faster way than was done before and which ultimately will keep the streets safer,” Bible said.
It took a federal grant of nearly a million dollars to get this piece of equipment. The only other county on our side of the state with one is Cambria County leaving an opportunity for any other county in our area to come test its DNA quickly in Beaver.
“Our door is wide open and we are more than willing to help them,” Bible said.
While DNA used to be reserved for violent crimes, there is now hope this tool can help in other crimes that may otherwise go unsolved.
“I came on the job in 1994 and DNA then was in its infancy and you wouldn’t even think about it for any other crime than homicide and now it’s 2025 we are thinking about doing it for things like car break ins and things like that,” Young said.
There are a few final calibration tests to complete on the Rapid DNA machine and it will be fully operation and open for business on Friday.
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