NCJ Number
187593
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 28 Issue: 2 Dated: February 2001 Pages: 32-34,36
Date Published
February 2001
Length
4 pages
Annotation
In order to solve the problem of portraying the nature of a killing when photographs are too graphic to be admitted by the judge, the Forensic Diagramming and Animation Section of the Illinois State Police (ISP) produces three-dimensional (3-D) body charts that show the victim's wounds from a knife, gun, or other object in a less horrific way.
Abstract
The advent of increasingly less expensive and easier-to-use 3-D programs may someday make 2-D drawings a thing of the past as the primary means for portraying victim wounds too graphic to be viewed by the jury in photos. When the ISP Forensic Diagramming and Animation Section plans to render a 3-D drawing, it generally creates an animation instead. An animation allows the development of a "virtual" walk-through of the scene. The department uses 3-D Studio Max from Autodesk Inc. for animation. This product is used in Hollywood to generate computerized special effects. Animators in the ISP section received approximately 80 hours of training from Moraine Valley Community College and an additional 40 hours of crime scene animation training from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Whether creating 2-D or 3-D diagrams, there are some equipment needs that are common to both. An agency requires some type of distance measuring device, such as a total station or laser; a computer with a large hard drive; and a printer or plotter that can handle up to a 36-inch-wide piece of paper. This article describes the equipment and software that can be used to record and process a crime scene for later 3-D diagrams and animation.