INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — In the last five years, law enforcement agencies across the United States have gotten more successful in tracing guns used in crimes back to who bought them, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Indianapolis saw a similar trend in the last five years, tracing more than 16,500 guns used in crimes back to the person who bought the firearms.

Assistant Chief Christopher Bailey of Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department called it “just better police work on our part.”

Indianapolis police are collecting shell casings from shootings, testing them and putting them into the database created by the ATF. If police confiscate a gun during an arrest, investigators also test that firearm and put the information into the same database to see if it’s been used in a crime.

IMPD compares the database to a tool on their belt that they weren’t using until about five years ago.

In that same period, IMPD has ramped up how much they’re using the database. Bailey said, “We’re just processing the evidence better. which is leading to these increased numbers.”

The report shows where guns used in crimes are being purchased, the age of the person purchasing them, the type of gun, and how many guns were stolen and then used in a crime.

Suzanne Dabkowski, a spokesperson for the ATF, said that “compiling it in one place maybe makes some of the trends more visual.”

She told I-Team 8 the use of the database is just another way for detectives to find criminals. “You can suddenly realize that the same firearm has been used in crimes not just in Indianapolis but in some of the suburban cities as well, whereas before you would never have known that that gun had traveled to these different places. Now, you know that. Now, it doesn’t prove who’s hands it was in. You still have to do good old-fashioned police work to figure that out.”

IMPD’s Bailey said about the data for Indianapolis in the last five years, “The number that concerns me the most is time to crime.”

“Time to crime” is how long it takes for a gun to be used in a crime after it was bought. In the last five years, more than 28% of guns that IMPD traced were bought under a year before they were used in a crime.

IMPD told I-Team 8 that could mean the firearms were stolen from a lawful gunowner, stolen from a gun store, or someone bought them with the intent to sell them to someone who shouldn’t have a gun.

Bailey said, “We’re not just focused on just the trigger pullers. We’re also interested in who’s providing these weapons.”

IMPD told I-Team 8 it needs data the ATF system provides because it’s more difficult to get convictions without it. “It’s no longer eyewitness testimony, or police testimony is not going to be enough to take a case to prosecution, let alone conviction.”

The ATF data characterizes Indianapolis as a large city. Out of 10 large cities, Indianapolis traced the fourth-most amount of guns used in crime in the last five years.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly indicated Shah worked as a prosecutor for the city of Carmel.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — An attorney who was working for the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office was arrested on charges of paying for sex.

According to probable cause affidavit, law enforcement on July 20 was watching Room 115 at the Red Roof Inn off of Shadeland Avenue in Indianapolis because of suspected prostitution activity possibly linked to sex trafficking.

They saw 25-year-old Adil Shah walk into the room through a slightly propped open door at 2:55 p.m.

Police later knocked on the door and opened it to find Shah with a shirt on backward and inside out.

A woman, who’d been read her rights, told police Shah had paid her $200 to have sex with her twice in 30 minutes.

Police handcuffed Shah when he made body movements that made it seem as if he was going to run away.

Shah, who’d also been read his rights, told police he only paid the woman to “cuddle him.”

A review of court records showed Shah prosecuted cases in Carmel City Court ranging from speeding to possession of marijuana. Since his arrest, he hasn’t prosecuted any cases.

Requests for comment from the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office had not been returned to I-Team 8’s.

In Marion County, Shah has so far avoided prosecution by doing a felony diversion program where he took an online class and did 16 hours of community service.

“Felony diversion programs are always really up to the discretion of the prosecutor,” said Jody Madeira, a law professor at Indiana University.

She told I-Team 8 that prosecutors take several factors into account when deciding to offer a diversion program.

“They look at the nature and severity of the offense. They look at any of the offender’s characteristics or difficulties, (and) whether the offender is a first-time offender,” Madeira said.

I-Team 8 asked the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office why it decided to give Shah the option for a diversion program, but the office had not yet responded by Monday afternoon.

I-Team 8 asked Madeira if the decision could be seen as preferential treatment toward Shah given that he was prosecuting cases at the time of his arrest.

“It appears likely that anyone, you know, you or I, anyone convicted or who was pleading guilty of this offense would be diverted to this sort of program.” Madeira said.

Shah got his law license in May of 2022. Madeira said this situation could lead to it being suspended, or another form of punishment. “The fact that you’ve committed that offense should be taken into consideration under what’s called character and fitness,” said Madeira, who added, “It’s up to the licensing authorities in Indiana to weigh the gravity of that conduct.”

Shah’s attorney declined to comment to I-Team 8.

I-Team 8 left a voicemail for Shah, but he had not called back by Monday.

If Shah fulfills all the requirements of diversion program, the charge would not be on his permanent record.