Detective Dan Reigstad, of the Longview, Texas, Police Department has been a loyal user of The Crime Zone for more than 13 years. He first started using Crime Zone version 3.1 to create his crime scene diagrams and he has continued using Crime Zone as new versions were introduced. Detective Reigstad comments “I like the many features that Crime Zone provides and the technical support that goes with it. I have tried many CAD programs over the years but, in my opinion, none compare to Crime Zone. I use Crime Zone almost every day in my job, and I always
recommend it to anyone asking me about CAD software.”

Crime Zone is a Must for Court

Crime Zone is ideal for investigators who need to prepare materials for a courtroom presentation. Detective Reigstad explains, ” I use the Body Poser to place bodies in the correct position, as they were found at the scene. You can use it to give the judge and jury the best visual impact of what the victim’s condition really was at the scene, short of showing them an actual photograph.” The Crime Zone’s Body Poser is a powerful, but easy-to-use, tool for visually posing a body in 3D.

Diagrams created with The Crime Zone are a critical part of Detective Reigstad’s courtroom presentations. Detective Reigstad describes this case: “As an example of the impact Crime Zone had on one of my cases, some years ago, I was presenting expert witness testimony on bloodstain patterns in a murder trial. I was explaining to the jury how we were able to place a victim on his hands and knees when he was shot in the back of his head, and not standing, as the defense was claiming. I could tell the jury was having trouble with some of the explanations. Then I used my Crime Zone prepared sketch with photographs injected onto layers of the sketch. Because of the Crime Zone presentation, the jury was easily able to understand the bloodstain analysis, and how we were able to come to specific conclusions in this case. I also use many features such as 3D, snapshots and others to make the best impact needed for my cases and help me show what I am trying to explain.”

Detective Reigstad also makes use of The Crime Zone’s Layers, which allow the user to turn on or off the display of certain details. He notes “I use the Layers feature to easily make a series of sketches and bring them into a PowerPoint presentation for court. That really makes a great impact.” Diagrams created in Crime Zone can be saved to several image formats, such as .jpg, so they can be added to reports and presentations created in other applications.

Many Features Reduce Drawing Time

The Crime Zone is full of features to help users turn their rough sketches of a crime scene into polished, completely accurate, diagrams.  Detective Reigstad explained that Crime Zone saves him time at the scene and while creating his finished diagrams, “I take measurements and make a rough sketch at the crime scene, then use Crime Zone’s Coordinate Data Entry feature to turn my measurements into a diagram. I can make precise and detailed diagrams in a fraction of the time it would take in other CAD programs. I save time at the scene and in the office.”  The Coordinate Data Table lets you enter manual measurements in a spread sheet format using baseline or triangulation methods. You can preview and modify the resulting points, lines, arcs and curves before placing them in your diagram. This tool can also be used to import measurement data from total station and laser measurement devices.

Detective Reigstad further commented, “No matter what the situation at the scene, I can normally find what I need in the software. If there happens to be a specific item at the scene and I can’t find a symbol for it, I can easily make it in minutes. If you ask the great staff at CAD Zone, they will “make” the symbol with your input, then make it available for others to use too. They are constantly updating their software to keep it the best. In my opinion, there is no better CAD program for crime scene sketching than Crime Zone, and I highly recommend it for everyone.”

Detective Reigstad teaches crime scene sketching techniques in police academies and at a local college, where he uses Crime Zone in his demonstrations. “I can use Crime Zone in the classroom to give the students the best visual demonstration of how to take measurements at a scene and how to complete a CAD sketch for court,” explains Detective Reigstad.

In summary, Detective Reigstad commented, “During my career, I have used Crime Zone to make hundreds of crime scene sketches. In my opinion, Crime Zone is the best.”