Members of the Delaware County Public Safety Committee were impressed by a new accident reconstruction software demonstration. “The software has already proven worthwhile,” County Sheriff Craig DuMond said.
Investigator David Barnes said he was completing part of the training on the software when a fatal accident happened along county Route 7 in the town of Colchester earlier this year. He phoned the sales representative to get some help with the software and the “support was phenomenal.” Barnes was able to complete all the scans needed for the software in about an hour. He then completed 24 hours of training on the software.
The FARO software uses cameras to scan an area. The camera rotates 280 degrees and captures images that are then placed in a video, Barnes said.
DuMond said it is accurate down to a millimeter from 270 feet away.
Barnes used the software following the fatal accident in the town of Middletown May 22. “We spent four hours in complete darkness,” he said. “We were tripping over things.”
The cameras took 13 scans that took 11 minutes each to complete, Barnes said as he showed the scans on the smart television screen. The vehicles in the accident and the road could be seen clearly.
Barnes also used the software Memorial Day weekend when a box truck overturned on state Route 28 in the hamlet of Meridale. He said it was four hours door-to-door with one and one-half hours scanning the accident scene, which was 300 feet long.
It would have taken two to three hours just to do the measurements at the scene, he said. The department was able to keep one lane of traffic open while they did the scans and he was able to relieve a deputy whose shift was about to end.
Since he started using the software, it has saved him 30 to 45 hours of time reconstructing accident scenes, he said
In addition to reconstructing accident scenes, it will help after fires. Barnes and Emergency Services Director Stephen Hood went to a fire and took scans to test out the software.
“This is a valuable piece of equipment,” Andes Town Supervisor Wayland Gladstone said. “It’s impressive.”
DuMond said the software will eventually tie in with vehicles’ computers to further assist investigations.
“Rather than taking the opinion of an officer, the judge could accept this as fact,” Gladstone said.
Barnes said he would be testifying in court as an expert witness and the software uses factual information rather than a judgment call.
In addition to the new software, committee members learned the new emergency services trailer was delivered. Following the meeting, DuMond led a tour of the trailer.
“The trailer is totally self-sufficient,” he said. “It will run on a generator so we can sit it on top of a hill.” It can be plugged into an electrical source, he said.
The trailer has a refrigerator and microwave, a table and benches, and there is a line of screens in the middle for video and internet. The trailer will be used at large incidents that law, fire or emergency services departments respond to, such as a wildfire or flood.
During the meeting, the committee voted to give the Downsville School District $250 from the STOP DWI fund for the after-prom party. STOP DWI Coordinator Scott Glueckert said the department will give to schools who request the funds. Students at Downsville went to Holiday Mountain following the prom, he said.