In the future, the new cameras should help to make traces of blood and smoke at crime scenes more visible and faster. “The new cameras are simpler and cheaper than all previous alternatives on the market“praised NRW– Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) the inventiveness of the Düsseldorf police colleagues.
Other federal states have already shown interest in the new cameras, said Reul. All specialist departments in the 47 police authorities in NRW be equipped with the new cameras.
Forensic technicians dissatisfied with previous technology
The idea of developing something new arose from the dissatisfaction with the previous equipment, said Chief Detective Andreas Nick, one of the developers: “We had a few crime scene missions where the devices were simply very heavy or unwieldy, and so we looked for something new with tinkering and our knowledge of physics and forensics.“
The first prototype was completed in 2018 and has since been developed further to series production level together with the State Office for Central Police Services (LZPD). Around 100 devices have been built so far. For that are loud LZPD only freely available components were used, so that long-term availability of possible spare parts was guaranteed.
New cameras set national standards
So far, there has only been an uneven equipment in the police authorities with infrared cameras, with different models, some of which cost up to 35,000 euros on the market, explained LZPD-Director Thomas Roosen.
The new cameras will set a nationwide uniform standard that is also significantly cheaper at around 1000 euros per unit. Due to the ease of use, important traces at the crime scene should be discovered and filtered out more quickly in the future, in order to accelerate the investigation work as a whole in the best case.
Stand: 11.06.2021, 13:35
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