Whether they like it or not, Law Enforcement officers, Crash Investigators and Reconstructionists need to draw. They usually have many other things they would rather spend their time doing, but having an accurate, neat diagram of the crash scene is critical to their investigation.
3D Crash Scene drawn with The Crash Zone
The Crash Zone drawing software (The Crash Zone web page) is the ideal tool for Crash Investigators and Reconstructionists who want great diagrams. It is easy to learn and use because it has many unique features that are specifically for drawing crashes. It’s NOT for engineers or architects or someone drawing a house floor plan. The Crash Zone is ONLY for drawing crash scenes.
The winter months bring snow to much of the United States. While this delights the school children and the skiers, it often means police officers have many more crashes to investigate than usual in terrible weather conditions. When inclement weather contributes to numerous crashes in a short period of time, investigators must do everything they can to gather all the critical evidence they need as quickly as possible.
Choosing Photogrammetry
This was the case during one December snow storm when Trooper Jeffrey Westrum of the Minnesota State Patrol was called to investigate a fatality crash involving a semi-truck and a minivan. Westrum (now Lieutenant Westrum) has been a member of the Minnesota State Patrol’s Major Accident Investigation Team (MAIT) for more than 14 years.
At the time of this crash, Westrum had a great deal of experience mapping crash scenes by taking manual measurements and using a total station. The MAIT troopers had recently been trained in the use of the iWitness™ (www.iwitnessphoto.com) close-range photogrammetry system for crash scene and forensic mapping, which is what Westrum chose to use for this scene.
Neal Trantham, owner of Nebraska Accident Reconstruction, tried other diagramming software programs before deciding which one to use in the accident reconstruction classes he teaches. Trantham, who also is a law enforcement officer with the State of Nebraska, says students in his classes span a broad spectrum of talents and skills from young officers just beginning their careers to officers about to retire.
“My biggest challenge is making these classes interesting and keeping them flowing so people at both ends of the spectrum don’t feel the class is going too fast or too slow,” Trantham said. To maintain this ‘flow’ of instruction, Trantham chose The Crash Zone, from The CAD Zone, Inc. (www.cadzone.com ). He felt The Crash Zone was the most intuitive to grasp of several drawing programs he surveyed, meaning students could be successfully creating diagrams very quickly.
If you’ve ever wondered if it’s worth the additional expense to upgrade your crash scene diagramming software, one expert responds, “Absolutely.” That expert is Bobby Jones of Bobby Jones Reconstruction of Knoxville, Tenn. For more than 25 years, Jones has been a trained crash reconstructionist and crime scene investigator, providing his expertise to private law firms, major trucking firms, insurance and government agencies, County Sheriffs, the State of Tennessee, and to prosecution and criminal defense clients.
The Crash Zone Includes Easy-to-Use Animation Tools
A major reason that Jones suggests upgrading your diagramming software is to get the animation features now offered in some software. Jones has been a longtime user of The Crash Zone, diagramming software from The CAD Zone, Inc. (ww.cadzone.com ) of Beaverton, Oregon. The Crash Zone is widely used among law enforcement professionals and crash scene investigators. It allows users to create realistic 2D and 3D diagrams of scenes. The latest version of The Crash Zone also features the ability to quickly create 2D and 3D animations of objects that are based on your exact measurements.
Pocket Zone on a TDS Recon
There is plenty for the investigator to do at the scene of a major crash, not the least which involves taking many precise measurements of vehicle locations, debris, skid marks, and other evidence. These measurements are critical in reconstructing the crash and creating the detailed diagrams of the scene that may become part of a courtroom presentation. In years past, taking and recording all the necessary measurements could require multiple officers and take hours of time, resulting in long road closures.
One advantage investigators have today is the availability of laser measurement systems and total stations that can streamline the process of taking these measurements. The Pocket Zone™, data collection software, is used by the officer to capture all the measurements at the scene. Back at the office, the 3D point coordinates are uploaded into The Crash Zone™,crash scene drawing software, where the final diagram is completed. This technology greatly speeds up the process of mapping a crash and diagramming the scene. Some equipment can even be operated by a single officer.
Traditionally, 3D animations, or movies, of the events surrounding a crash were recognized as a powerful tool to help present a case in court. However, they were so expensive to produce that they were only feasible for high-profile cases where big budgets were involved. Recently, the development of easy-to-use, accurate, software for creating animations has changed all that. It is now possible for every crash investigator to produce animations of a crash, based on the evidence they found at the scene.
Just ask Bobby Jones, Assistant Chief of the Knox County-Knoxville, Tennessee Sheriff’s Office, and a trained reconstructionist. Jones feels that animations are an important part of his courtroom presentations. Says Jones, “We’ll always need to have a static diagram to get a start (for presenting crash scene details). However, a jury these days can comprehend animation, and the retention is significantly higher than words and diagrams.” Also, Jones adds, “Anytime we can illustrate in motion, we capture the attention of the jury because juries are typically inclined to want to see technology.”
Jones uses The CAD Zone, Inc.’s Crash Zone diagramming software, one of the most popular and widely used forensic drawing software packages on the market. With The Crash Zone he can create his 2D diagrams, incorporating all the exact measurements he takes at the scene. The program contains easy-to-use tools for creating the 3D model and animations of the crash from any viewpoint.
The Crash Zone Symbol Manager toolbox showing just a few of the pre-drawn symbols.
If you are a Crash Scene Investigator, chances are you have better things to do with your time than spend hours and hours creating drawings of crash scenes. One way to really save on drawing time is to use pre-drawn symbols for commonly found objects. Instead of trying to draw that vehicle or sign found at the scene, just select the pre-drawn symbol and drag it into place.
The Crash Zone, crash scene diagramming software published by The CAD Zone, Inc., has thousands of pre-drawn symbols that are ready for you to place in all of your 2D and 3D diagrams. You can easily change any symbol’s rotation, size, and color as you place it in the diagram. Symbols can be placed at an approximate location in the drawing or snapped to an exact data point.
Vehicular accidents unfortunately don’t occur in just one locale. They strike every hour, on the hour, in the most populous areas of a state as well as in the remotest. The challenge is that the more remote the accident scene, chances are high that the expertise needed to fully investigate crash scenes will be sparse. Nevertheless, most cases involving a crash usually end up in court, making it essential to examine the crash scene thoroughly and generate a detailed diagram that will present the most likely sequence of events for a jury.
Almost invariably, well trained reconstructionists investigate and document crash scenes, but usually not far from their base of operation. When accidents occur in remote parts of a state, the investigating officer or team may not include a reconstructionist. Since the scene still must be investigated, mapped and diagrammed, these documentation steps can be more challenging.
As an investigator, you may often be called upon to present your findings in the courtroom in front of a skeptical jury and an attorney who would just love to prove you wrong. Your diagrams of the scene are an important part of your investigation and you want to make sure you can prove they are completely accurate. So, what are some rules to follow for ensuring that your methodology for preparing a diagram and diagramming the scene itself will be credible enough to withstand courtroom scrutiny?