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Kittitas (pronounced 'KITT-i-tass') County is located in central Washington State. It spans from the lush forested Cascade Mountains to the upper Yakima River Valley plains and the Columbia River.
Kittitas County, WA - 07/25/2022 - The Coroner's Office is breaking new ground with a state-of-the-art technology upgrade to better serve the community and help aid criminal justice partners thanks to a federal grant totaling $86,708.00. The funding has been used to purchase a Leica RTC360 3D laser scanner and scene reconstruction software. Kittitas County Coroner Nick Henderson is proud to say, “we are the first medicolegal death investigations office in Washington to begin using this equipment.”
Coroner's investigations will be enhanced as the scanner is used to capture the imagery and GPS data points at the scene. The speed, accuracy, and ability to work in zero lighting will increase efficiency, scene safety, and how a scene is communicated. Since its debut in 2018, the Leica RTC360 has been a game-changer. With a capture rate of 2 million points per second and two minutes per scan, it’s the fastest scanner on the market, and its compact, lightweight design, makes it one of the most agile. It will allow the Coroner's Office to document investigations in 3D. The imagery can be measured and scientifically reviewed by criminal justice experts. Documenting the scene is the most important part of a death investigation and until this funding, the Coroner's Office has never had an opportunity to bring experts to the scene. By creating 3D, immersive, imagery the experts will now be able to walk through the scene as if they were there alongside the Coroner’s Office investigators. The Coroner's Office in partnerships with local emergency service agencies trained with the new technology May 20th, 2022. This project was supported by Grant No. 13404938 awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Office for Victims of Crime, and the SMART Office. Points of view or opinions in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Kittitas County, from the Cascades to the Columbia, and online at http://www.co.kittitas.wa.us
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Contact: Nick Henderson, Coroner, nick.henderson@co.kittitas.wa.us