Launch of revolutionary forensic device
Tuesday, 22 February, 2011
Dr Bond and his machin ( provided courtesy of Northampton Chronicle and Echo)
A pioneering new forensic device was launched by Consolite Forensics at the Northamptonshire Police headquarters last week.
Consolite Forensics is a division of Consolite Technology, established to exploit new technologies in the world of forensic science.
The company has been developing a new technique devised by Northamptonshire Police Scientific Support Manager Dr John Bond, who invented a machine that extracts latent fingerprints from discharged cartridge cases.
Consolite Forensics has branded the device the 'Cera' (Cartridge Electrostatic Recovery and Analysis), and has conceived a self contained laboratory machine that reveals fingerprints with minimal operator intervention.
The device was unveiled, revealing a compact unit which includes a fully integrated camera and lighting system to generate a complete 360 degree image of a finger print from a cartridge surface, in the format needed for input to the automated fingerprint identification system.
Academics and forensic experts from across the UK and as far away as Norway were in attendance.
Chief Constable Adrian Lee opened proceedings, and spoke of the device's introduction as being of National and International importance.
CC Adrian Lee said:
"To put this into context, the development of this device will serve to improve the trust and confidence of the people we serve.
"A key part of improving trust and confidence is crime reduction, and anything which helps detects offenders is obviously a key part of this.
"The link between developments in forensic science aiding detection of offenders, and trust and confidence, is clear".
He went on to speak about the need for investment in new techniques such as Cera, and the huge potential there is in developing the technique to go beyond spent cartridges.
The device will undergo further testing and will then be sold to police forces across the world.
Dr John Bond's pioneering technique was named as won of Time Magazine's top 50 inventions of the year in 2008 and has recently won recognition from BBC Focus magazine.
Dr John Bond said that since the technique was devised, police from all over the world have been sending cartridges from unsolved murders for analysis.
