From Hans Gross to Laser Scanning – Principles of Crime Scene Documentation Now and Then
Brodbeck, Silke M. C. |
Hans Gross created with the first print of his book “Handbuch für Untersuchungsrichter, Polizeibeamte, Gendarmen, usw.“ a standard volume for the work at crime scenes in 1893. This book was published in several editions over a time period of decades. Throughout the time the technology, which is used for crime scene documentation, has changed, correlated to the then actual available technology. This article gives an overview about the changes in the technologies used at crimes scenes for documentation between 1893 and 2022. It describes the way from sketching and modelling to photography, Infrared-photography, spherical panoramic photography and laser scanning. Many modern technologies are based upon scientific principles which were described decades ago, although people think, that they are new. This article also takes a look upon what principles for the work at crime scenes, postulated by Hans Gross, are still valid today.