Leica Map360

Detective Sergeant Sarah Beninghof, of the New Jersey State Police Crime Scene Investigations Unit, remembers what it was like documenting scenes by hand. Back then, the No. 1 challenge was providing  enough  data. “When we used to go to a scene, we picked what we thought was important,” she says. Since transitioning to Leica Geosystems laser scanning technology about six years ago, that is no longer the case. “The scanner is picking  everything  up and memorializing it forever,” she says.

Bloodstain pattern analysis is one of the most challenging areas of forensic science. Often criticized as subjective and uncertain, it nonetheless remains a valuable tool in helping investigators draw conclusions about what happened at the scene of a violent crime—especially as technology advances make it more reliable.

As Statewide Crash Reconstruction Coordinator for the Minnesota State Patrol, Sergeant Lance Langford is responsible for keeping its reconstructionists not only up to date with changes in vehicles and vehicle technology but also up to speed with the accurate, efficient forensic mapping tools. The last upgrade from tape measures to total stations reduced their mapping average to less than two hours. But with advancements in forensic mapping technology and nearly 600 cases per year, Langford knew they could do better. “When we moved to the Leica TS12 robotic in 2015, we cut our scene time by about 50 percent because you set it up yourself and do all the work yourself,” he says. “It’s a very quick way of doing it, extremely accurate, and it’s simple to use.”