On the Edge: Pinpointing the Pieces

August 1, 2009 By: Don Talend GPS World

FBI Trains Law Enforcement, Military in Bomb Investigations

Attacks in 1993 and 1995 on the World Trade Center and in Oklahoma City gave a wake-up call on terrorism on U.S. soil. Combat forces in Afghanistan and Iraq face this threat daily: bombings that utilize large vehicles as a delivery method.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has developed a Large Vehicle Bomb (LVB) Post-Blast Investigation Course, relying on GNSS technology to precisely and efficiently reconstruct bombings. The scale of an LVB scene (up to 250 acres) presents unique logistical challenges, according to FBI Special Agent Bomb Technician Kevin Miles. Miles developed the course with George Gomez and Howard Rechtschaffen of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and now teaches it around the world. Duke Dutch, manager of law enforcement applications for Sokkia, assists instructors with GPS aspects.

As of spring 2009, more than 100 courses had been held for more than 5,900 students from all 50 states and 16 foreign countries, and several sessions had been conducted in foreign countries. Attendees range from civilian crime-scene investigation (CSI) personnel to military bomb technicians deploying overseas.

Participants learn about management of a large blast scene, team configurations, explosive physics, contamination avoidance, chain of custody, residue analysis, and more. Miles says the training also applies to non-terrorism CSIs such as traffic accidents, homicides, and plane and train crashes.

On the second day of the week-long course, instructors detonate a bomb, and the students survey the crime scene, thoroughly processing it for a day and a half. A mapping team plots the perimeter and area and locates debris farthest from the blast point in all four directions. One team member carries a backpack Sokkia LEA RTK Mapper and Bluetooth-capable Pocket PC Data Logger to record precise location of bomb fragments, debris, and reference points. Software such as Microsurvey Evidence Recorder or CAD Zone Crime Zone can reconstruct the scene from the GNSS data.

The LEA RTK Mapper is customized for the mapper’s personal safety. “The military’s primary objective is not to draw attention to themselves and get shot,” Dutch says. “So the equipment has been changed so that it can perform the job but also not draw a lot of attention to the people collecting the evidence. We’ve had several agents specifically ask for this same type of product.” Portability also keeps a soldier’s hands free for carrying a weapon.

“Without this equipment, they would have to use handheld tape or lasers,” says Dutch. “[GNSS] just changes the entire scenario because you don’t have to worry about north as an orientation. GNSS data is also much more reliable in the courtroom,” Dutch says. Adds Gomez: “The days of tape measures are gone.”