Jupiter Police Add Camera To High-Tech Arsenal
Police in Jupiter, Fla., used a $15,000 grant from the Counter Drug Technology Assistance Center to purchase a hand-held thermal imaging digital camera.
The grant program was originally intended to help police departments purchase the device for locating enclosed marijuana growing rooms, but Jupiter Police public information officer Amy Facchine said the technology has a broad range of applications, from search and rescue to finding escaped convicts.
The device detects the heat given off by living objects, and can track a human body at up to half a mile. Sgt. Jim Barrett, a certified thermographer with the Jupiter Police, said the camera can even detect the residual warmth left by human footprints.
Barrett notes officers must first obtain a warrant before using the camera to search homes for hidden marijuana growing rooms.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Jupiter Courier (04/09/03) P. A3; Russell, James.
