POLICE TEST THERMAL CAMERA IN CHATHAM EXERCISE

The Chatham-Kent Police Service demonstrated its new $30,000 thermal
imaging camera at a search and rescue exercise held Nov. 2. The
exercise took place in thick bush just east of Victoria Residence on
Stanley Avenue, as police searched for two volunteers.

The exercise included the Critical Incident Reponse Team (CIRT), as
well as a dog team and search and rescue volunteers.

A helicopter was also to have been used, but low cloud cover and rain
kept the operation on the ground.

Insp. Clare Weirsma said the operation simulated a situation such as a
senior wandering off from the nearby nursing home into the adjacent
bush.

The event provided an opportunity to use the thermal camera, which is
capable of finding people through the body heat they emit.

Weirsma said the camera is similar to what firefighters use for
finding people in smoky buildings, but has different sensitivities and
a longer-range lens. The camera can be used effectively up to heights
of about 300 metres (1,000 feet), making it ideal for use in a
helicopter. An area the size of a football field can be scanned in
about 15 seconds.

Alternatively, it can be used by teams on foot. The police service has
had the camera since September and several CIRT members have been
trained in its use.

Weirsma says the camera will primarily be used to help locate missing
children and seniors, but can also be used to find stranded boaters
and hunters. It can also be used to help reconstruct accident scenes.

"It actually shows skidding that is invisible to the naked eye," said
Weirsma.

In addition, the camera can be used to help locate marijuana grow
houses. "They glow quite noticeably when using the camera," said Weirsma.

Const. John Mulder of CIRT says that the ability to find missing
persons depends on the clothing they are wearing, as well as the
outside temperature. Someone walking barefoot would give off more
heat, and thus be easier to spot, than someone wearing insulated
boots. The camera is able to detect minute differences in temperature
that can give searchers clues as to the direction in which the missing
person is travelling. Tests have shown that even the path left behind
by canoists, invisible to the unaided eye, can be seen by the camera.