Cutting-edge technology soon will shed new light on crime scenes in the city.
On Monday, the City Council voted to buy a Luma-Lite portable forensic light for the Police Department. The $11,750 tool puts out a broad-band light beam that detects blood, fingerprints, semen, minute clothing fibers and 36 illegal drugs, said Susan Rose, Chairwoman of the Public Affairs and Safety Committee.
“This piece of equipment is crucial to the success of the evidence technicians at crime scenes,” Rose said. “The purchase of this unit will put us on the forefront of crime scene investigation and afford a greater level of service to the victims of crime in Elmhurst.”
The Luma-Lite works because different materials absorb and reflect different wavelengths of light, explained Police Sgt. Bob Kopczynski. By setting the light to emit different wavelengths, officers can easily see stains and other evidence that are invisible under ordinary light conditions.
“The beauty about this instrument is that it doesn’t change what it finds so you can still run laboratory tests on it later,” he said. “We hope this will unlock a whole slew of evidence.”
Elmhurst police have used the DuPage County Sheriff’s Department’s Luma-Lite three times in the last nine months to solve cases, including a double homicide in June and a corpse found in a car in the parking lot of Elmhurst Memorial Hospital.
