Decatur's Fingerprinting Tool Led to Arrests

The City of Decatur police used a new fingerprinting tool that helped lead to the recent arrest of a .

The new tool, according to WSB, drastically cuts down the time it takes to identify suspects, including the one who broke into 37 cars within a two-day span.

Decatur police said it has led to several arrests already besides the most recent incident. 

Here's more of the WSB story:

“I opened the door but noticed all of our stuff from the glove department,” said Casey Jones, whose car was broken into.

Decatur police said Jones wasn't the only person who lives along Superior Avenue with that rude awakening.

Within a two-day span, police said someone broke into 37 cars on his and surrounding streets.

“It was really kind of bizarre. We were fortunate that we didn't leave anything in the car worth stealing, except for maybe a baby car seat,” Jones said.

Within recent days, police caught up with their suspect, 21-year-old Seth Israel.

“She was able to match it to a person with a prior arrest record in Georgia, said Deputy Police Chief Keith Lee, talking about the department's new $20,000 fingerprint computer program. “By having this in house ourselves, we're able to process and identify this suspect in less than 2 weeks.”

Up until now, Decatur police, like other small departments, had to send all fingerprints to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and wait months for results.

Lee said sometimes it would take six months.

“There is a lot of crime that can be prevented if you can identify someone and put them into custody,” Lee said.

“One less guy on the streets that is getting into our business is good news, so we are relieved,” Jones said.

So far, the new technology has helped Decatur police identify suspects in three different cases.

Lee said he is confident this is only just the beginning.