By ERIN MATHEWS

Salina Journal

It's a hot, sunny day, but the "CSI" investigator arrives at the crime scene before a suspect's wet footprints evaporate. The investigator instructs other officers to start looking for a Norwegian man, after observing a rare fungus in the prints.

Can Irvin Augustine, the Salina Police Department's property and evidence unit manager, recognize a Norwegian foot fungus when he sees one?

He wouldn't need to, Augustine said. Only on television do footprints remain wet until police arrive.

Augustine is not a big fan of television police dramas like "CSI."

"I don't watch it," Augustine said. "To me, it's so far-fetched."

Those hourlong episodes bear little resemblance to real police investigations, which require months of work by multiple officers and lab technicians, can include numerous false starts and must be conducted by people with the technology and training that fit in a department's budget.

However, when he takes the witness stand in Saline County District Court, Augustine said he is usually addressing 12 people with expectations set by television shows like "CSI."

"People on a jury see that on TV, and that's what they want," he said. "They want that 'CSI' stuff. It would be nice to have all that technology, but no one department has it."

Still, technological advances in recent years have changed the way things are done -- and made new things possible -- at the Salina Police Department.

Augustine and several other representatives of the department recently described technology used in patrol cars and at police headquarters. New technology has simplified procedures, made it possible to collect evidence that could not have been recovered before and lengthened the time officers can be on the street and dispatchers can spend on the phone with people needing emergency assistance.

Technology also has been used to offer conveniences to the public in their dealings with the department.

In short, even in real life, police have some pretty cool gadgets.

When Augustine and other evidence lab technicians are called to a crime scene, they arrive in the crime scene van, purchased in 2009. The vehicle houses a mobile, fully equipped lab for processing fingerprints, blood splatters and other pieces of evidence.

The crime scene van already has been used at the sites of several homicides. Since police often spend more than 24 hours processing a crime scene, the van, which is equipped with a generator, offers a place to get warm during inclement weather or to cool off on a hot day, Augustine said.

Since the department received a $28,000 grant two years ago, evidence technicians leave the van carrying a black case containing the Crime Site Imager.

Using this real life CSI, Augustine can produce large, detailed, vividly colored photographs of fingerprints and other types of prints collected at crime scenes that can be used in court to give jurors a clear look at the evidence. By adjusting the angle and type of light used, details of prints can become visible that could not be seen otherwise.

The Reflective Ultraviolet Imaging System, also known as RUVIS, included in the CSI set, has made it possible to collect significant evidence at the scene of a homicide that could not have been obtained otherwise, Augustine said.

"We've already had high-profile cases that, without the use of this system, we would have lost pertinent evidence," he said.

The equipment also saves time because looking through RUVIS, technicians can see where the fingerprints are without dusting every surface, he said.

Connection to public

Salina residents can take advantage of the department's online system to file a report of minor thefts, vehicle burglaries, lost property, vandalism or to submit a tip about a crime.

The service, which is available on the department's website at pd.salina.org, allows a person to file a report when it's convenient, without having to wait for an officer, said Arlene Frederiksen, the department's records supervisor.

Also on the website is a crime alerting and mapping service that shows what crimes have been reported and provides free automated alerts if crimes occur. Users may designate an area from which they wish to receive crime reports.

On patrol

Officers patrolling the streets consult a mounted Doppler radar unit in their patrol cars to see which cars are speeding. Officers also have access to three hand-held laser radar guns that make it easier to pick a specific car out of a group of vehicles moving together.

Laptop computers in patrol cars provide a nonpublic means of communication with the station when responding to complaints of loud parties, juvenile drinking, illegal drug sales and serving arrest warrants, said Lt. Wayne Pruitt, communications supervisor. Mobile computers have been in police and sheriff's office vehicles since 2003, he said.

Lawbreakers tend to listen to the police scanner, and by communicating via computer, police can avoid tipping them off, Pruitt said. Officers also can obtain information about outstanding warrants, driver's license photos, diagrams of schools and banks, current maps of Salina and Saline County, names of missing or wanted people, and stolen property identification through the computers, he said.

Previously, dispatchers had to relay that type of information. Now dispatchers are freed up to spend more time on the phone with the public, Pruitt said.

The computers also make it possible for officers to file reports in the field, eliminating the need to write them by hand or return to the office to type them, Pruitt said.

"Now they spend less time in the station and more time on the street," Pruitt said. "They can do about anything in their car they can do in the station."

He said soon he expects a software upgrade that will double the speed of the computer connections.

He said other plans include installation of automatic vehicle locators so that dispatchers know specific locations of all patrol cars and can easily determine which unit is closest to a priority call. Also, call routing will map the quickest route an officer could take to respond, he said.

"It's a work in progress," Pruitt said.

Accident investigation

Rande Repp, a master patrol officer, cruises Salina's streets in the police department's accident reconstruction van. The days when Repp had to rely on tape measures when collecting data at an accident scene are not so long ago, but he is glad they are behind him.

Now he uses a laser mapping system to accurately plot and diagram vehicle crashes or crime scenes and to determine the crush measurements of a vehicle involved in a crash. He also uses photogrammetry software to produce a scale diagram of a scene using a series of photographs.

He inputs data into accident reconstruction software to obtain speed of travel without having to manually calculate, although he could do it by hand if he had to, he said.

"The formulas are all computerized now, but you have to know how to do it so you can testify," he said.

A couple of other pieces of police equipment that some drivers come into contact with are the Intoxilyzer 8000, which analyzes breath-alcohol content, and handheld units used to electronically chalk and cite parking violators. Now a software system tracks parking citations and credits payment.

The department's technology has significantly improved, but the reality locally will probably never reach "CSI" levels.

"We're in the beta mode compared to them," Repp said.

n Reporter Erin Mathews can be reached at 822-1415 or by e-mail at emathews@salina.com.