University of Central Florida, Department of Anthropology, Orlando, FL 32816, USA.
Forensic Sci Int. 2010 Feb 25;195(1-3):121-7. doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2009.12.003. Epub 2009 Dec 28.
Incorporating geophysical technologies into forensic investigations has become a growing practice. Oftentimes, forensic professionals rely on basic metal detectors to assist their efforts during metallic weapons searches. This has created a need for controlled research in the area of weapons searches, specifically to formulate guidelines for geophysical methods that may be appropriate for locating weapons that have been discarded or buried by criminals attempting to conceal their involvement in a crime. Controlled research allows not only for testing of geophysical equipment, but also for updating search methodologies. This research project was designed to demonstrate the utility of an all-metal detector for locating a buried metallic weapon through detecting and identifying specific types of buried metal targets. Controlled testing of 32 buried targets which represented a variety of sizes and metallic compositions included 16 decommissioned street-level firearms, 6 pieces of assorted scrap metals, and 10 blunt or bladed weapons. While all forensic targets included in the project were detected with the basic all-metal detector, the size of the weapon and surface area were the two variables that affected maximum depth of detection, particularly with the firearm sample. For example, when using a High setting the largest firearms were detected at a maximum depth of 55 cm, but the majority of the remaining targets were only detected at a maximum depth of 40 cm or less. Overall, the all-metal detector proved to be a very good general purpose metal detector best suited for detecting metallic items at shallow depths.
将地球物理技术纳入法医学调查已成为一种日益增长的做法。法医专业人员通常依靠基本的金属探测器来协助他们在搜索金属武器时的工作。这就需要对武器搜索领域进行有控制的研究，特别是为可能适合定位被犯罪分子丢弃或埋藏以试图掩盖其犯罪行为的武器的地球物理方法制定准则。有控制的研究不仅允许测试地球物理设备，还允许更新搜索方法。本研究项目旨在展示全金属探测器通过检测和识别特定类型的埋藏金属目标来定位埋藏金属武器的实用性。对 32 个埋藏目标进行了受控测试，这些目标代表了各种大小和金属成分，其中包括 16 支退役的街头枪支、6 件各种废金属和 10 件钝器或刀刃武器。虽然项目中包含的所有法医目标都可以用基本的全金属探测器检测到，但武器的大小和表面积是影响最大检测深度的两个变量，特别是对于枪支样本。例如，使用高设置时，最大的枪支在最大深度 55 厘米处被检测到，但其余大多数目标仅在最大深度 40 厘米或更浅处被检测到。总的来说，全金属探测器被证明是一种非常好的通用金属探测器，最适合检测浅层的金属物品。
