The first installment of our From the Field blog series takes us to Douglas County, Nebraska where we meet with Josh Connelly, Latent Print Unit Technical Lead at the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. Josh shares his experience with us as he researched and eventually purchased our patented Full Spectrum Imaging System (FSIS).

FSIS BACKGROUND
The FSIS lab system is designed specifically for a laboratory environment. A large display and articulating arm allow for clear, fast evidence scanning. Achieve hands-free image capture with a mounted UV light and a foot pedal. Approximate lab footprint is 36" x 36" x 24”.

The Full Spectrum Imaging System (FSIS) is the most advanced image capturing system in the world. The FSIS features a full spectrum 16MP digital camera with sensitivity from the deep UV through real IR. With over 16 megapixels of resolution and sensitivity from 254nm to 1100nm, the FSIS can easily capture a full handprint at 1000 PPI (pixels per inch), and micro evidence up to 2,500 PPI. No more looking for a latent fingerprint with a handheld RUVIS and then blindly photographing the evidence in order to get a high-resolution image. No more green, grainy, small images at a low resolution limiting the capturing area to 1’’x1’’ with the old RUVIS technology. The FSIS will digitally capture a high-resolution image in all spectrums and display it in real time. Every aspect of the FSIS FSIS has been carefully designed to provide the only full spectrum system able to capture at the highest resolution available. It begins with the camera and continues with the computer, hosted on an all-in-one Apple computer, running on Windows 10, equipped with custom image capturing software. With a state of the art computer and software, a high sensitivity solid-state camera, and software written specifically for capturing any evidence, the FSIS is able to provide consistent sensitivity and sharpness in the UV, visible and IR spectrums. Although the key feature is viewing and capturing untreated latent prints at a very high resolution, the FSIS isn’t just for fingerprints. The large field of view (f3.8-f16), high resolution (up to 2,500 PPI), and full spectrum capability (254nm-1100nm) provide an unequaled system to view and capture altered documents, urine, semen, saliva, blood, GSR, footwear, untreated latent prints, fumed prints, dye-stained prints, and more. Forensic photography at the highest resolution across the entire light spectrum enables criminalists’ skill set to be in full swing. There is no limitation to the varied types of evidence the FSIS is capable of processing.

JOSH NOTES
“Our agency purchased an FSIS from Arrowhead Forensics at the beginning of this year after looking at a purchase for years. We were fortunate enough to secure funding and Parker and Pat came out to our lab to provide training on the equipment. It was a breeze to set up and the four-hour training session was enough to begin validating the equipment.

Within a week, we had the FSIS integrated into our casework and have had massive amounts of success with it. Recently, we've been able to develop latent prints on items from an arson case that were not visible with any other technique. Without the FSIS, we would not have been able to identify any suspects in that case! We've also been able to develop latent prints in death investigations where other techniques yielded negative results. The power of the FSIS, in combination with other forensic light sources, have made it an invaluable asset to our lab and to our community that we serve.”

Those other forensics light sources Josh mentioned? Check out the news brief below:

If you’re interested in see the power of the FSIS contact at sales@arrowheadforensics.com

Join the FSIS Working Group on LinkedIn. This group is specific to offer assistance between users of Arrowhead Forensics FSIS camera systems. You are welcome to share your experience, past cases, recommended workflows, news and anything else related to photography with the FSIS systems. Those who are new to Full Spectrum photography are welcome to the group to learn more about photography and to network with other users. The group is dedicated specifically to discussions surrounding Arrowhead Forensics equipment and related products to keep the discussions as relevant as possible. Join Here