New laser brings 3D colour images of crime scenes to courtrooms

A 3D rendition of a mock crime scene created by a new high-speed laser scanner. Photo / Supplied

A new and improved laser that can quickly and accurately build a 3D colour image of crime scenes will bring new clarity to New Zealand courtrooms.

Environmental Science and Research (ESR) today demonstrated to media the new Focus3D x 130 laser modelling technology that forensic scientists will be able to use from next month.

ESR forensic scientists will be able to produce digital images that are accurate reconstructions of crime scenes used to present evidence to juries in criminal court trials.

Built by world-leading German company Faro, the $60,000 device works by quickly shooting millions of lasers in all directions around a room, recording measurements of all the scanned surfaces.

The data is then processed by software to accurately build a 3D representation of the measured space.

Forensic scientists Jason Barr said the device will mean crime scene analyses can be done faster and with more precision than ESR's current laser, an earlier model of Faro scanner purchased in 2012.

It can measure the position, size and orientation of evidence such as firearm trajectories or blood patterns and present them clearly and precisely to juries in court cases.

"It's a huge step up on all levels, it's a huge step in being able to record a crime scene because you can't record every single measurement in a crime scene manually ... down to millimetre accuracy," he said.

ESR forensic programme manager Dr Jill Vintiner said: "It enables complex evidence to be simplified and easily available to juries, so we know that it will be particularly helpful for juries and will be a very useful tool in our crime scene investigations."

The new laser will mean ESR can conduct more investigations, faster.

It will be used throughout New Zealand. The current laser is used primarily in Auckland.