Following an officer-involved shooting in Phoenix, attorneys needed to understand how the incident unfolded and what information was available to the officers at key moments during the encounter. The case involved multiple officers, vehicles, body-worn camera recordings, and a unique piece of evidence – a complete video of the incident captured by a police helicopter flying 1,000 feet above the scene.
The central questions in the case focused on what each officer could see and when they could see it. While videos like from body-worn cameras are helpful, they can be difficult to understand together with other evidence along with the timing of movements.
The Process
Our Digital Media Forensics team was engaged on this case to create a scientifically accurate 3D reconstruction of the incident to help answer these questions.
The process began with a detailed site inspection and laser scanning of the scene, creating a digital copy (made up of millions of data points called a point cloud) that served as the foundation for the analysis. Using camera matching and photogrammetry techniques, our experts first aligned the helicopter video with the point cloud. Now an accurate foundation was created to then match the body-worn camera footage and photographic evidence within the scene.
The Outcome
With the reconstruction complete, the positions and movements of officers, vehicles, and other key elements were represented accurately throughout the event. Experts could analyze lines of sight and visibility from the perspectives of the involved officers, helping determine what could and could not be seen at critical moments during the encounter. It also allowed all stakeholders the ability to view the events from different perspectives and better understand each aspect as it unfolded.
