Two years ago, a car in south Canberra broke a tree on Hindmarsh Drive.
Three roads were closed for hours as police searched the area to find out what had happened.
That day, in December 2019, he stayed with ACT Police Conflict Investigator Senior Constable Nathan Smur.
“It used to be five hours before we left and went to the hospital,” he said.
“And this is a tedious, tedious, process to make sure you have everything.”
The 28-year-old man behind the wheel died a few days later.
Senior Constable Smurry says the impact of this kind of death on families has prompted him to bring as many details as possible to the scene.
“That’s why I do this work,” he said.
“It’s not about doing the calculations or going to the show or bringing people to court – it’s a waste, it’s a management job.
Smart Scanner takes time to support victims
Canberra police have recently discovered a new technology that allows them to gather the information they need in less than half an hour and will not disrupt the streets of the capital for hours.
Using a forensic imaging system, the police can create an amazing three-dimensional crash scene.
The system installed on the tripod takes a 360-degree scan of the space, taking hundreds of images and displaying millions of data points.
Police can do this without even stopping traffic jams, because the technology can remove unfamiliar information – such as vehicles – and later.
Investigators can investigate this digital reconstruction – by speeding or road conditions – to determine the cause of the accident.
“All we can do now is set up a scanner the moment we get there.” [and] ‘
“We can create a 30-40 page document on how the conflict unfolded, and if we want to continue with this, we can create a 30-second video clip showing what the conflict looks like.”
As we return to the scene of the 2019 crash to revisit the new system, Senior Constable Smurf’s time and detail differences are striking.
“When I was in the first place, if we had this system, we would have been here for two and a half hours instead of living here for five hours,” he said.
“They were not there without knowing what was going on at the venue or what was going on outside.”
.