Three-dimensional (3D) scanners used at crime scenes for forensic investigations aren’t just the stuff of prime time television. Investigators and crime laboratories do use 3D laser scanning measurement systems to measure and model critical aspects of crime scenes. But during the ensuing legal battle, forensic sciences must be able to prove the reliability of the measurement data.

A 3D laser scanning measurement system has a motorized swiveling head that sweeps a 632 nm wavelength laser beam over an entire room or outdoor scene, capturing up to a million measurements per second. A panoramic image is output with a 3D data visualization that reproduces the area’s dimensions (see figure 1). These data are then used to identify, with high accuracy and speed, evidence such as bullet trajectories, victim positioning and orientation, and witness viewpoints (see figure 2).

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