Digitising crime scenes for better visibility and analysis

3D reality capture is an advanced technology that empowers crime scene investigators to accurately capture and document every detail of an environment—whether it’s a homicide, a suspicious death, fire scene preservation, officer-involved shootings, or eye witness confirmation. This enables them to fully document a crime, minimising human error, increasing accuracy and improving courtroom understanding of crime scenes.

Combining pin-point accurate laser scanning with high-definition visualisation tools, 3D reality capture improves understanding and documentation of crime scenes and increases efficiency and productivity in the field and the office.

Capture crime scenes with millimetric detail

Time is critical for investigators at a crime scene; mapping the area by gathering evidence is often the most time-consuming part of some police investigations, and, in the rush of the incident, crucial evidence may be overlooked. 3D reality capture simplifies the process by rapidly scanning and capturing a complete crime scene in a comprehensive high-definition 3D model, helping to ensure that important evidence is not missed.

Getting to the detail with 3D reality capture

Capture every detail of a crime scene in minutes:

• Analyse, fly-through and zoom in to visualise a crime scene
• Measure and annotate a 3D model of the scene
• Quickly assess and clear the crime scene without missing or compromising crucial evidence
• Re-examine scenes as required.

Every detail is documented and ready for trial with crucial evidence captured in 3D for future re-examination.

Supporting your case

Avoiding scene degradation is a key issue in ensuring conviction. Jurors may not be able to form a complete understanding of the event as the crime scene degrades over time. With 3D reality capture, the scene can be frozen in time, providing jurors with an immersive environment as close as possible to reality, to view and explore, aiding their visualisation of the event.

Most recent advances in 3D laser scanning technology, such as the RTC360 reality capture solution, enable fast, accurate and precise scanning, allowing investigators to quickly scan the complete environment around a crime scene. Combined with its portability and ability to get into more difficult spaces, the final result provides jurors with an objective and fuller understanding of the crime scene. Some of the benefits of laser scanning for public safety are:

• No need to return to the crime scene for further investigation
• Clear the scene and open up the area quicker
• Spot details that may have gone unnoticed on scene at a later review
• Reduce the need for the court to attend crime scenes through high-definition visualisation
• Provide court-ready documentation as evidence
• Measure details and trajectories accurately
• Help juries better understand a crime scene with improved visibility and analysis.

See more about how Leica Geosystems can help to improve crime scene visibility and documentation

Learn how 3D reality capture empowers crime scene investigators to accurately capture and document every detail of an environment