Title

Utilizing A Magnetic Locator To Search For Buried Firearms And Miscellaneous Weapons At A Controlled Research Site

Keywords

Buried metallic weapons; Controlled geophysical research; Evidence search; Forensic geophysics; Forensic science; Magnetic locator

Abstract

Forensic personnel generally use basic all-metal detectors for weapon searches because of their ease of use and cost efficiency. For ferromagnetic targets, an alternative easy to use and low-cost geophysical tool is a magnetic locator. The following study was designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of a common, commercially available magnetic locator in forensic weapon searches by determining the maximum depth of detection for 32 metallic forensic targets and testing the effects of metallic composition on detection. Maximum depth of detection was determined for 16 decommissioned street-level firearms, six pieces of assorted scrap metals, and 10 blunt or bladed weapons by burying each target at 5-cm intervals until the weapons were no longer detected. As expected, only ferromagnetic items were detected; weapons containing both ferromagnetic and nonferromagnetic components were generally detected to shallower depths. Overall, the magnetic locator can be a useful addition to weapon searches involving buried ferromagnetic weapons. © 2011 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Publication Date

9-1-2011

Publication Title

Journal of Forensic Sciences

Volume

56

Issue

5

Number of Pages

1289-1295

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1556-4029.2011.01802.x

Socpus ID

80052457140 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/80052457140

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