When Laser Technology first released the Marksman in 1993, our 1st commercially available LIDAR, there was some reticence (as is normal when ‘change’ is first introduced) on the part of law enforcement agencies.
During one of my sales calls in Greenville, SC, I was riding in a squad car on the way back from a successful demonstration of the laser speed gun. Just as we arrived at the station the Traffic Sargent I was with received a call from dispatch asking him to check out an accident involving a city dump truck and a passenger car. Since it was my last call of the day, I asked if I could ride along, to which he agreed.
This proved to be very enlightening for both of us and the beginning of a new product in the making for LTI.
It was a minor crash and nobody was injured, so after citing the driver of the car, the Sargent opened the squad car’s trunk and retrieved a measuring wheel. I watched as he walked out his measurements of the skid marks and other reference points when EUREKA, it hit me! I asked if I could provide his needed measurements with the ‘Marksman’ and once he was satisfied as to the unit’s accuracy he put the wheel away. “You saved me at least 45 minutes!” said the very impressed Sargent finishing up his hand-drawn map. I knew at that point I had something very special to talk about with my colleagues at Laser Technology. If we could develop a mapping application, it would give the ‘Marksman’ a dual application. In 1995, our first version of QuickMap software for accident and crime scene mapping was released and as they say, the rest is history.
QuickMap 3D is LTI’s solution to field data collection software and easily integrates with our laser speed guns to collect and store data points, view calculations right in the field, and easily transfer everything to a PC to produce courtroom-ready diagrams. Check out QuickMap 3D. It has proven time and time again, to not only be accurate and time-saving, but helps provide credible and reliable data in the courtroom for law enforcement agencies all over the world.