(BLOOMINGTON) – The Bloomington District A.C.E.S. (Aggressive Criminal Enforcement Section) of the Indiana State Police had a very productive and demanding 2018.
The A.C.E.S. are a group of nine troopers and one sergeant assigned to the Bloomington District (Brown, Greene, Lawrence, Monroe, Morgan, and Owen Counties) who conduct all of the regular duties of an Indiana State Trooper, but focus heavily on the detection of criminal activity and the apprehension of suspects involved in illegal activity.
The team, which was created approximately three years ago by District Commander Lt. Paul Bucher, was the first specialized “all crimes policing” team created department-wide.
Each ISP District in the state now has the same kind of team.
The A.C.E.S. conduct regular criminal patrols for drug activity and other crimes, investigate criminal cases assigned to them, investigate crashes, assist local citizens and motorists in need, and are involved with the local schools and communities. In addition, they work closely with the Indiana State Police Drug Enforcement Section and local law enforcement agencies on drug investigations. The A.C.E.S. are also contacted regularly by agencies across the state for assistance with tracking down and apprehending wanted fugitives with ties to the Bloomington District.
In 2018, the A.C.E.S. generated the following statistics:
- 6,221 traffic contacts
- 137 OWI suspects arrested
- 95 traffic crashes investigated
- 2,305 police services
- 668 criminal defendants arrested
- 1,663 total criminal charges (543 felonies)
- 449 criminal cases investigated
- 59 school visits
- 70 public appearances/programs
In addition, the A.C.E.S. seized a total of 2,055 grams (more than 4.5 pounds) of methamphetamine, 47 grams of heroin, 6,275 grams (almost 14 pounds) of marijuana, 7 grams of cocaine, more than 3,000 controlled substance pills that were being illegally dealt, and recovered 5 stolen vehicles.
They also investigated multiple child sex crimes that resulted in the arrest of the suspects, solved burglaries and thefts (including recovering a large amount of stolen property), twice located large quantities of shoplifted merchandise during traffic stops (even before the stores knew the thefts had occurred), uncovered a global identity deception and fraud scheme that reached all the way to Africa, and located two attempted murder suspects for other agencies.
