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01/10/05 | Vol. 20 No. 1
Saturday January 15, 2005

"Total" Tech Forensic Mapping

Users of digital and forensic mapping are delivering better evidence to courts and investigators.

For the difficult circumstances they face, public-safety officers dealing with emergency incidents and catastrophic events are increasingly applying innovative technologies to their jobs. Some of these emerging systems exploit new geospatial data capabilities derived from innovative end-user devices and new software systems.

One such technology, digital and laser-based forensic mapping, is now being implemented by many police and other public-safety departments. The growing use of Electronic Total Stations has followed from courts that expect more accurate and advanced data in the aftermath of accidents and crimes, said Robert McKinzie, law enforcement consultant and president, McKinzie & Associate.
"Forensic mapping" is a term used to describe the collection of evidence at accident and crime scenes where the primary purpose is to establish the spatial relationship between all relevant items and victims.

At a typical fatal accident, police officers usually must locate the vehicles, skid marks, body locations, and debris and make determinations about the alignment of roadways. A homicide might require victim and evidence location in respect to roads, buildings and any other site features related to the crime. In all such cases, a total station greatly eases the data-gathering task, McKinzie said.

The basic digital forensic process includes equipment, software, people, management, and applications working in a chain, he said. An electronic total station is a laser-based device that captures and records measurements on a small, detachable data collector.

The data collector is later downloaded to a PC or laptop with mapping software. "After the information is downloaded into the computer, it can take as little as 15 minutes for a completed sketch with an inserted legend to be printed," McKinzie said.

Forensic mapping is the first step for law enforcement in developing a factual re-creation of an accident or crime scene. Evidence based on digital mapping data is increasingly called for by judges and prosecutors, largely because it is more accurate. Advocates tout its ease of use, the greater distances such systems cover, and reductions in traffic disruptions while accident scenes are investigated.

Users of digital forensics are increasingly producing 3-D outputs, to which juries are far more responsive than traditional flat maps, said McKinzie, who often provides expert testimony in court cases.

Also, digital mapping combined with 3-D mapping can be used to illustrate the motion of an event such as a bombing, where the ability to visually re-create events can be critical to investigators and other stakeholders.

The average incident takes about five or six hours to map, McKinzie said. And costs for forensic mapping can be an issue for many police departments. "Basically, it's the most expensive dot-to-dot drawing process on the market," he said.

But such systems can deliver significant return on investment. Digital mapping software turns captured data points into objects for rendering or other processes. Such data might later contribute to sketches or "chain of events" reports related to an incident.
Forensic mapping that relies on Electronic Total Stations is used by most U.S. state police departments. It is also being used by the National Transportation Safety Board, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI, and several other federal agencies. McKinzie addressed the U.S. Law Enforcement conference and exposition earlier this summer.
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