The Colombian State-Level Forensic Lab Buys Regula 4308S

The Office of the Attorney General is an influential institution of the Colombian judicial branch. The organization facilitates investigations of offenses that range from cybercrimes to violations of human rights and humanitarian norms. It is in charge of prosecuting offenders, investigating crimes, reviewing judicial processes, and accusing penal law infractions against judges and courts of justice. It is also the most authoritative institution in forensic examination at the state level.

Nowadays, the organization counts on more than eighteen thousand officials who work to ensure citizens justice that is appropriate, efficient, and full of guarantees.

Goal

The Office of the Attorney General faced a serious task: they were to establish a forensic lab from scratch that would boost their effectiveness against counterfeiting and adulteration. To do so, the organization set out on a search for best-in-class multi-purpose forensic equipment. Since this was a public procurement, the ideal solution also had to be the best value for the money.

To help with the quest, they hired an expert adviser who could bring all available options to the table and facilitate making an informed decision. There were three major requirements:

• The required equipment should have the ultimate configuration and capabilities to conduct all possible in-depth forensic examinations of a wide range of documents, banknotes, and other items.
• It should be easy to use.
• The supplier should be present in Colombia and be able to provide robust post-sale service, training, and support.

Solution

Regula wasn’t the only solution the organization evaluated. To learn more about how it performed compared to the competition, the adviser reached out to Antipodas Inversiones, the official distributor of Regula Forensics in Colombia since 2013. After exploring the capabilities offered by Regula, the сhoice in favor of buying this device was clear. The project scope included the Dual-Video Spectral Comparator Regula 4308S, Information Reference System, Regula Face SDK, and specialized training.

Regula 4308S gained the upper hand thanks to its optical system with the best-in-class optical magnification and resolution. The 14 MP digital color camera with high IR sensitivity ensures the professional quality of imaging in all examination modes. Optical magnification allows forensic experts to examine objects in high detail scaled up to 320x. On top of that, a unique system with a lifting mechanism for the optical path and the adjustable focal plane provides more freedom when changing the field of view to examine extra-thick and extra-large objects.

The experts appreciated the oblique lighting system with a changeable angle and adjustable direction of object Illumination. Thanks to it, they can now find the right angle of incidence of the beam to detect and highlight even the tiniest irregularities on the surface of an object.

Also, the device comes with a spectrometer and a hyperspectral analysis module, which makes it a multipurpose tool for the wide range of tasks a forensic lab of national importance might encounter.

Result

As the technical team of the Office of the Attorney General reports, the implementation of the equipment was easy and took just one day, from delivery to the lab to getting it up and running. They were positive about how simple the installation was and also about the training they got on the equipment and forensic analysis using it. Now that they have had time to put it into practice, they are completely fascinated with the device and the post-sale service from our partner Antipodas.

The acquired Video Spectral Comparator meets the proposed objective of being a state-of-the-art tool to support the investigative work carried out by the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation in its mission.

—Claudia Adriana del Pilar Garcia Fino, Forensic Advisor