Laser scanner documents crime scene

Metrology consulting firm Pine Falls Technical Services has shown the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Winnipeg Police Department how a laser-based imaging device could piece together the remains of a vehicle that had been destroyed by a bomb.

A pipe bomb was placed under the front seat of a large station wagon. Next, a blast scattered parts of the car around the pit but left a major piece of it intact. The training demonstration gave Pine Falls’ engineers a chance to apply new technology to what has been an age-old problem of forensic surveys.

The test showed that gathering crime scene data can be simple and fast, quickly freeing up the area for civilian use. The destroyed car and scattered parts were digitally captured using a Faro (Lake Mary, FL, USA; www.faro.com) LS laser scanner, providing a view of what happened after the explosion.