Topcon technology expedites police investigations

17 March 2008, 10:25am

CAPELLE AAN DEN IJSSEL, The Netherlands – The United Kingdom's Highways Agency recently invested £2.5m in getting the traffic on roads moving faster after an accident. Innovative GPS technology from Topcon will be used to clear up more efficiently after incidents. Amongst the equipment the Highways Agency purchased for 38 police constabularies were Topcon's GR-3 receiver, and the GPT-9000 and Imaging Station Total Stations.

The Highways Agency has invested £2.5million in buying the equipment and is rolling it out to ensure that all the police forces in England who patrol the Agency's network of motorways and major A roads - some 4,500 miles - can benefit from it.

The GPS technology was provided to 11 police forces in April 2007 and is now being rolled out to a further 25 Police Forces (two forces had already bought the equipment themselves). Between now and the end of March 2008 the Highways Agency will be ensuring that training is provided, where needed, to those police forces that have received the new equipment.

The idea behind the purchase is to help get traffic moving more quickly after serious traffic collisions. The congestion-busting kit allows the police to make a 'virtual map' of the collision scene, enabling the road to be re-opened more quickly following a serious incident.

“Utilizing Topcon’s leading positioning technology enables the police forces to carry out their work in a more efficient manner”, says Ian Stilgoe, Topcon's Product Marketing and Support Manager Survey Products. "The Topcon Imaging Station for instance offers advanced imaging and high-accuracy surveying techniques; combined in a single instrument. The powerful on-board functionality of the IS can produce "photography with a dimension", a revolutionary and cost effective alternative to laser scanning."

But also using the GR-3 GPS receiver will result in a substantial time saving as Stilgoe explains: "The new Topcon GR-3 represents the next generation in GPS+ receiver technology. It incorporates the latest Topcon G3 Technology capable of receiving signals from all present and future satellite constellations: GPS – GLONASS – GALILEO. This ensures that the police force will be able to get a clear position at all times", Stilgoe closes.

Cumbria Constabulary is responsible for policing the county and has one of England’s largest geographical areas to cover. The Collision Investigation Unit investigates around 200 fatal and serious road collisions as well as being involved in serious crime scenes and industrial accidents. Sergeant Jon Skelton of the Cumbria Constabulary states: “Utilizing Topcon’s positioning technology like the Imaging Station and the GR-3 enables us to carry out our work in a more efficient manner."

The role of Jon Skelton and his team is to collect evidence at collision scenes which later assist in reconstructing how the collision occurred. These reconstructions can then be used in any subsequent legal proceedings. He says, “After a serious collision the road is closed so that we are able to locate all the debris and identify any tyre marks and other items of evidence. We are also interested in the state of the road and whether the weather conditions may have been contributory. A serious road collision is now treated as a crime scene. The area is photographed, videoed and a detailed survey is carried out using the Topcon equipment."

"It has been shown that using the Topcon equipment reduces the time it takes to survey the scene by up to 30%", Jon Skelton says. “This time saving is very important as we aim to keep roads closed for as short a time as possible whilst we carry out our investigations. Road closures have a financial impact on the economy of the country and using the Topcon equipment lessens that impact."

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Geo: International