Crime scene investigators and law enforcement officers use forensic tools to collect, analyze, and preserve evidence to support an investigation.

From fingerprint identification and facial recognition to narcotics analysis and DNA evidence, forensics tools cover a vast range of investigative and evidence-
related uses.

While some companies are expanding their catalogs to include devices for collecting digital evidence, others are now offering innovative tools that will make collecting physical evidence more efficient and effective, as well as more admissible in court.

Narcotics

Illegal narcotics and related substance abuse have not only become a public health emergency in the United States, but also remains a recurring issue globally. Assistance with identifying illicit substances has allowed officers to better develop their current narcotics investigations and piece together previous ones.

Looking to help law enforcement identify these unknown substances is the Wilmington, Massachusetts–based Rigaku Analytical Devices. Founded in 2011 in response to a growing need for more rugged and technologically advanced mobile and handheld spectroscopic analyzers, Rigaku Analytical Devices is an innovator of solutions for use in the protection of public health and safety. Rigaku also aids in the advancement of scientific and academic study.¹

The Rigaku ResQ FLX is a narcotics analyzer that provides law enforcement agencies with greater flexibility for use in combating the widespread opioid epidemic and increased drug trafficking. This flexibility stems from the product’s simple handheld form with the purpose of identifying illegal drugs, including fentanyl.

Rigaku was the first to introduce a 1064nm laser excitation in a sealed and rugged handheld platform for reliable analysis of a broad range of materials. According to Marketing Director Jen Lynch, “The use of handheld Raman instruments has revolutionized field testing of narcotics and other illicit substances.” Due to the ResQ FLX 1064nm Raman analyzer, many issues associated with testing times and cost have decreased. An advantage of using the Raman handheld analyzer is that it will keep officers safer because the analysis can be done through packaging without the need for the user to be exposed to potentially toxic substances.

With just a touch of a button, the analyzer provides results from a standard library of over 1,000 compounds. These include the latest fentanyl and opioid formulations for advanced fentanyl identification.

Users also have the ability to select additional libraries, features, and support packages that fit their needs and budget. These libraries include precursors, explosives, toxic industrial chemicals, and chemical warfare agents.

Another company offering narcotics identification tools is IDenta Corporation. Headquartered out of Jerusalem, Israel, IDenta was established with the mission of developing, manufacturing, and marketing field kits for the identification of drugs, precursors of drugs, explosives, precursors of explosives, and other unique forensic products.

IDenta’s narcotics detection kits can detect and identify substances, liquids, or even traces at nanogram range in only seconds. The kit comes as a closed system and a wide selection of substance identification tools that maintain a long shelf life.

With a simple process of substance sampling, activating, and shaking, the tool offers fast and clear results based on a color reaction with little to no mess. It can also fit in small places, such as a backpack or pocket.

Chief Executive Officer Amichai Glattstein said, “We have identified a real need for field detection and identification to provide reliable and safe tools to end users who encounter…a wide variety of substances that require reference and simple testing.”² IDenta’s field testing kits have been utilized by police departments and sheriff’s offices, as well as by drug enforcement agencies, bomb squads, and armed forces.

Surveillance

Helping to drive intelligence and evidence collection, companies are also providing law enforcement agencies the newest in surveillance. Analytical platforms and long-range thermal lenses can help identify suspects from crowded environments, such as densely populated cities and forested areas.

The Israel-based BriefCam’s products have played an important role in identifying suspected terrorists in the days following the Boston Marathon, along with uncovering pedestrian, crowd, and traffic patterns in cities like New Orleans, Louisiana.³

BriefCam offers the comprehensive and innovative Video Content Analytics Platform. This product allows law enforcement to accelerate investigations, attain situational awareness, and derive critical intelligence from video surveillance.

“Offering real-time capabilities, enhanced user experience, and accelerated processing performance, BriefCam enables law enforcement to transform video into actionable intelligence and maximize video surveillance,” said Chief Marketing Officer Stephanie Weagle.⁴ The complete Video Content Analytics Platform delivers video analytics via three fully integrated solutions: review, respond, and research.

Review allows officers to filter video, pinpointing people and objects of interest with speed and precision across multiple cameras. These solutions are available through the platform’s library of 29 classes and attributes, along with face and license plate recognition. The respond element enables police to configure and trigger real-time, rule-based alerts so that they can proactively respond to events. The final element, research, shows officers inefficiencies and threats to public safety by aggregating video data and visualizing it in reports and dashboards.

“The police officers using the software feel that they’ve won back time—time they can then invest in other investigation activities, streamlining the whole process of closing a case,” said Director of Video Surveillance Program (Brussels-Capital Region) Christian Banken.⁵ Powered by deep learning and artificial intelligence, the technology processes video; detects, tracks, extracts, and classifies objects in the video; and indexes those objects to enable officers to accelerate investigations, attain situational awareness, and derive operational intelligence.

Also offering surveillance tools is FLIR Systems, which is based out of Wilsonville, Oregon.

FLIR has made new additions to its Scion Outdoor Thermal Monocular (OTM) and Professional Thermal Monocular (PTM) series with the 25mm lens and 36mm lens variant for longer range detection. These handheld devices can be used day or night to find physical evidence.⁶

The 25mm lens can extend viewing capabilities up to 700 meters, whereas, the 36mm lens offers observation of up to 1,000 meters. This increased range helps users quickly detect objects at extreme distances with smooth, unwavering vision, no matter the environment. The manual focus feature allows users to customize their viewing preference.

With more features than any other FLIR commercial thermal handheld, Scion PTM and OTM include Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, as well as a global positioning system functionality. The Lock Span Mode creates highly detailed images by eliminating unwanted temperature detection with a locked temperature range.

Technology is rapidly evolving—and with it come new threats to national security and public health. As drug trafficking and organized crime groups are changing the way they do business, so too must law enforcement officers change the way they identify suspects to resolve an issue.

Many companies are looking for new and innovative ways to capture digital evidence; however, others are aiming to advance physical evidence collection to improve traditional investigative techniques.

Notes:

¹ Jen Lynch (marketing director, Rigaku Analytical Devices) email interview, March 11, 2020.  

²  Amichai Glattstein (chief executive officer, IDenta Corp.), email interview, March 9, 2020.  

³ Lizzi Goldmeier (senior marketing communications manager, BriefCam), email interview, March 9, 2020. 

⁴ Stephanie Weagle (chief marketing officer, BriefCam), email interview, March 9, 2020.  

⁵ Christian Banken (director of the video surveillance program, Brussel-Capital Region, Belgium) email interview, March 9, 2020. 

⁶ Nathan Borowski (PR account manager, Backbone Media, FLIR Systems, Inc.), email interview, February 11, 2020.

Please cite as:

“Cracking the Case with Forensic Tools,” Product Feature, Police Chief (April 2020): 60-61.