Law Enforcement and Homeland Security agencies including police departments and naval military forces are responsible for carrying out investigations and search and recovery (SAR) operations on territorial waterways.
StarFish systems enable dive teams to conduct search, rescue and recovery operations safely in a matter of hours instead of days.
Searching underwater by divers can be dangerous and time consuming. Large areas of water are often impossible to effectively search are often concluded after several days with recovery left to chance.
StarFish systems can provide near-photographic quality, real-time digital images; clearly identifying drowned victims, submerged vehicles, weapons, downed aircraft, sunken vessels, mines, underwater structures, and much more.
StarFish systems are compact, lightweight and quick to deploy and can be used in lakes, rivers, harbours and the open ocean. A StarFish unit is independent of the boat, so requires no installation and therefore can easily be shared among groups of users.
Crime Scene Investigation
Law Enforcement agencies are involved in the retrieval of any submerged evidence from a crime scene. This includes the recovery of bodies, stolen vehicles and weapons.
StarFish systems can assist in the recovery of victims and evidence that otherwise may have remained missing.
StarFish systems can provide near-photographic quality images of an underwater crime scene before divers inadvertently disturb crucial evidence.
Search areas are often large due to the lack of eye-witnesses, eye-witnesses forgetting the exact place of incident or lack of any visible reference points above the water surface. StarFish systems allow law enforcement agencies to search large areas quickly and safely with minimal draw on personal and resources.
Homeland Security
StarFish systems can be used to successfully locate downed aircraft or sunken vessels, survey crash sites or accident scenes and assist with the search for explosives, like mines, or any other devices which could pose a risk to vessels, bridges, dams and other structures.
Port and harbour shipping route surveys conducted with a StarFish unit can identify areas vulnerable to terrorist attacks. Periodic surveillance of the same routes by harbour patrols can reveal the presence of any new, potentially threatening objects prompting immediate action.
Search Quickly & Safely
Low visibility waters, poor environmental conditions and underwater obstructions can make diving difficult and very dangerous. Divers are often required to search in unfamiliar waters or previously unexplored areas. These areas may contain structures or other objects which could pose potential safety risks.
Search teams can use StarFish to evaluate otherwise unknown hazards before divers enter the water, minimising safety risks.
Divers need only be deployed once targets and potential hazards are located by a StarFish system. This minimises diver safety risks and reduces the time divers spend in the water because they already know the location of a target and the best direction of approach. Reducing the time a diver spends in the water will also help preserve limited air supply in tanks.
StarFish systems minimise diver safety risks and search time, maximising search and recovery results.
Applications
Some typical examples of StarFish Seabed Imaging Systems' applications for law enforcement and homeland security include...
- Lake/river/seabed search and recovery operations
- Retrieval of submerged evidence from a crime scene
- Recovery of sunken boats, vehicles, aircraft and weapons
- Recovery of drowning victims
- Guide diver search operations
- Evaluate unknown hazards before dive teams enter the water
- Photographic quality images of crime scenes before crucial evidence disturbed
- Survey crash sites or accident scenes
- Search for mines and other explosives
- Location of beach landing obstructions
- Reconnaissance applications
- Port and harbour structure inspection
- Harbour patrol
- Salvage operations
- Mapping of territorial waterways
