When Vice-President Al Gore recently called on the Department of Energy to help the Departments of Justice and the Treasury put new, high-tech tools in the hands of law enforcement, he provided a forum to demonstrate new crime fighting technologies. One of the featured new crime-fighting tools was a Laser Induced Fluorescence Imaging (LIFI) system.

Developed by Bechtel Nevada (BN) scientists at the Special Technologies Laboratory for DOE’s Nevada Operations Office, LIFI was originally designed to detect uranium oxide in environmental management site characterization and cleanup work. The technology is being adapted to the detection of the optical "signatures" of body fluids, fabrics and dyes.

Law enforcement agencies now use ultra-violet lamps at crime scenes to look for fluorescent materials, such as human blood, but this technique requires near-total darkness. The findings then have to be charted or "registered to the scene" with measurements and photographs. The only currently available alternative is to remove samples and conduct laboratory analysis, which is labor-intensive and time consuming.

With LIFI technology, investigators can immediately survey a crime scene for the presence of body fluids. The camera system includes a real-time video display in false color, making it easy for the operator to identify the locations and types of fluids at the scene. The video display can also be recorded for later review.

"We’re leveraging DOE/EM technology," said John DiBenedetto, BN LIFI project manager. "We’ve done the research that says we can read the optical signatures of body fluids with this technology. Now DOE and the FBI will work together to develop a sensor package specifically designed to meet law enforcement needs."

"If we’re going to fight the criminals of the future, we need to develop the crime fighting tools for the future." said the Vice-President. "We must put the best possible tools in the hand of our law enforcement community so they can identify, apprehend, and prosecute criminals swiftly and effectively."

Article courtesy of "DOE/NV Sitelines"

Contact:
John DiBenedetto at (805) 681-2240