Gas explosion, gold robbery: How Abu Dhabi Police solve crime cases using sophisticated tech

Two masked men stormed into a gold store at night, fatally stabbed the security guard who tried to stop them and fled the scene, leaving the corpse and knife behind.

All fingerprints and DNA gathered from the scene belonged to the victim; the robbers didn't leave any trace behind. However, police could still identify the heights of the two men using a 3D scanner that can scale footage captured from the store's CCTV camera to estimate their heights accurately.

The above hypothetical scenario is an example of how advanced technologies introduced by the force's young leaders are helping police investigators solve cases.

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The first time crime scene investigators used the 3D scanner was after the gas leak blast in Airport Road's KFC building in September 2020.

"It helped us locate the victims, identify the size and circumference of the explosion and measure distances between shrapnel," said Captain Mohammed Al Kaabi, Head of crime scene measurement and sketching at Abu Dhabi Police.

"It also provides an accurate picture of the scene to be included with presented evidence."

Before such scanners, police personnel had to click photos of every detail from various angles, and the images were then connected to picture the incident. In a wide outdoor scene that reached 2.5km long, the scanner did the job in three hours; documenting the scene using the old method could've taken up to two days.

"And most importantly, it keeps an accurate documentation of the original crime scene for years ahead, which comes in use when needed in prolonged court cases."

There was a case where the defence came up with a new theory years after the incident, "we went back to the (digital) scene and measured the claims, we were able to analyse and see that the claims don't fit the scene," Al Kaabi said.

The force has been testing another technology that leads to quicker evidence — the forenscope. A mobile laser fingerprint detection device that uses light radiation to identify and photograph blood and fingerprints. Sometimes, it is difficult for powder to reveal prints because of humidity or other external conditions.

"This is much easier and more accurate than the traditional method of brushing powder against a surface to reveal prints," said Captain Al Kaabi.

He added that the force is still testing the device for safety and efficiency.

Crime scene storage

Attempts to tamper with crime scene evidence stand no chance, thanks to a landmark fully automated e-store introduced by the force in 2019. When a piece of evidence is checked into the store, it is numbered and transferred through an electronic belt to a container with adequate space and temperature in a confidential manner.

"Nobody knows where the container is located; even when it is checked out and re-checked in, it returns to a completely different location," said Lt Col Al Hashmi.

For any item to be checked out, there needs to be a series of commands by individuals who have access to the store through a designated username and password.

"Previously, the evidence was divided across storage rooms at different police stations, and the processing was all done manually."

The idea to initiate such a massive store that stores evidence of all sizes under one facility with zero human intervention was the brainchild of Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior.

"We then travelled to several countries, including the UK and the US, to learn from similar practices by other police forces, we found them using semi-automated stores only."

Abu Dhabi Police is believed to be the first force to use such a high-tech, fully automated facility to store crime-scene evidence.

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