Analysis of Industry Applications for Night Vision Devices
Building Outline DetectionToday, anti-drug operations have become increasingly complex. Many drug-producing facilities have moved indoors from outdoor sites, creating great difficulties for law enforcement in investigation and evidence collection. The application of night vision technology has solved this problem. Indoor marijuana cultivation typically uses 1‑kilowatt halogen lamps to provide the light and heat required for growth. While these lamps heat the interior of the building, heat radiates to the outer surfaces. Thermal imagers can detect this heat emission, providing valuable assistance to police in anti-drug operations.
Rescue Missions and Fugitive SearchLow-light night vision devices and thermal imagers allow round-the-clock searches for missing persons or fugitives. The human body is a strong heat emitter, so thermal imagers can easily determine their location. Thermal imagers can also detect people hiding in cover.For example, the Georgetown Police Department once had two suspects escape custody during transport. Officers immediately launched a manhunt. One suspect fled into a densely vegetated area and hid. Police passed his hiding spot three times and failed to find him using flashlights. Finally, using a handheld thermal imager manufactured by Raytheon Company, officers located and apprehended the suspect in just 25 seconds.
Ensuring Officer SafetyWith night vision technology, officers can detect suspects at night while remaining unseen themselves.In a case in California, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officers used thermal imagers to monitor a criminal group suspected of clandestine drug manufacturing. The group operated aggressively from a mountain stronghold and searched the woods each night for police surveillance. Using thermal imagers in wooded terrain, officers remained undetected, ensuring their own safety.
Vehicle TrackingVehicles emit large amounts of heat during and after operation. Thermal radiation comes not only from the engine but also from tires, brakes, and exhaust pipes.Police helicopters equipped with thermal imagers can track suspect vehicles from the air, even when their headlights are off. Patrol cars with vehicle-mounted thermal imagers can also track vehicles entering parking lots or fleeing by detecting residual heat from recently turned-off engines.
Detecting Disturbed SurfacesRestored or disturbed soil surfaces may be invisible to the naked eye but can be clearly identified with thermal imagers. When a surface is disturbed, its thermal profile is altered; disturbed soil emits thermal radiation differently from compacted soil. Using this capability, thermal imagers can locate buried objects.Police once handled a case in which a man murdered his wife in a fit of rage. To conceal the crime, he buried her body in the backyard and covered the site with sod, believing he had left no trace. However, police quickly located the body using a thermal imager.Law enforcement agencies now regularly use thermal imagers to find burial sites. Thermal imagers are generally believed capable of detecting fresh graves within 90 days. Recently, however, the American Geographical Society used thermal imagers to discover an ancient Egyptian tomb dating back 2,000 years.
Detecting Hidden CompartmentsAutomakers routinely use thermal imagers to inspect vehicles for defects. Police have adapted this technology to detect hidden compartments in vehicles.Drug traffickers often conceal drugs in tires, fake gas tanks, dummy exhaust pipes, or other vehicle compartments, which are extremely difficult to detect visually. Thermal imagers simplify detection significantly. For instance, if a vehicle has two exhaust pipes, one of which is fake, a thermal imager will show the active exhaust pipe glowing white with heat while the fake one remains cold.Joint federal inspection teams on the U.S.-Mexico border have used this method to seize thousands of drug shipments and smuggled goods from unauthorized migrants.
