INDIANAPOLIS — 2025 is starting with the walls of the old Marion County Jail 1 coming down, nearly 60 years after the jail first opened.
Crews and heavy machinery is now inside the fence surrounding the entirety of the now-empty jail. Inmates moved out more than two years ago, but the final tenants only cleared out late in 2024.
”The main location was Jail 1, downtown, 40 S Alabama St,” said Richard Amberger, Forensic Services Agency.
The Forensic Services Agency tests criminal evidence through biology, prints, drug chemistry or firearms.
”You mostly see us on the TV,” Amberger said. “Our big vans, that’s our crime scene specialists.”
The FSA was partially housed in Jail 1 for nearly 40 years. The team came from three separate location to their new, modern building on the Criminal Justice Campus.
”It has made a massive improvement in our operations,” Amberger said.
The crime lab processes more than 12,000 cases a year. Amberger said that’s nearly 100,000 pieces of evidence. With everyone now under one roof, he said the evidence flows much quicker.