Skip to main content

Flir thermal sensors aid police in capturing Boston bombing suspect

Last Monday morning two bomb blasts went off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. By Friday night the suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was in police custody. After he survived a gunfight with police and slipped out of a dragnet, Massachusetts State Police finally spotted him via a thermal imaging technology manufactured by Flir.
April 23, 2013 Read time: 1 min
Dan Dietrich of FLIR
Last Monday morning two bomb blasts went off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. By Friday night the suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was in police custody.

After he survived a gunfight with police and slipped out of a dragnet, Massachusetts State Police finally spotted him via a thermal imaging technology manufactured by 6778 FLIR.

Flir thermal sensors can see clearly regardless of lighting or weather conditions. The suspect was hiding in a boat, under a tarp, but the thermal sensor was able to provide a clear view because it could detect his body heat.

“The technology used to view the bomb suspect is the same Flir technology used in traffic management,” says Dan Dietrich, Flir business development manager for traffic & ITS.

For example, Flir thermal imaging can be used in automated incident detection, pedestrian detection and bicycle detection.

Flir thermal imaging is a combination of Flir's 165 thermal sensors and an algorithm optimised for thermal imaging by Traficon, which was acquired by Flir in December.

%$Linker: 2 Asset <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 4 77400 0 oLinkAsset <span class="mouselink">www.FLIR.com</span> www.flir.com false /EasySiteWeb/GatewayLink.aspx?alId=77400 false false%>

Related Content

  • September 9, 2014
    Sensys launches Vehicle Detection System 2.0
    Sensys Networks launched a new version of its Vehicle Detection System in Detroit, improving the solution’s wireless range and coverage, extending battery life and enhancing security features. VDS 2.0 hardware upgrades include an enhanced flex repeater, access point controller card, grind resistant sensor and vehicle identification and matching system. Sensys Networks is also touting its partnership with Acyclica to combine travel time information and vehicle volume data in a single system. The joint soluti
  • April 22, 2013
    Wavetronix improves traffic detection offering
    Wavetronix is using its exhibit at ITS America 2013 to announce improvements to its line of radar traffic sensors, and to unveil an application-based focus to traffic detection that the company says will give departments of transportation more control over traffic.
  • November 18, 2015
    Flir traffic webinars for December
    Flir Traficon Academy has organised a series of informative webinars for December, including: 1 December: Wrong way driver detector Using the Flir ThermiCam/TrafiSense integrated thermal camera and detector for wrong way driver detection. 3 December: Flir ITS Solutions This webinar explains the solutions FLIR ITS offers for traffic management. 15 December: Fire detection in tunnels Flir ITS introduces a new way to detect fires in tunnels.
  • March 25, 2014
    Noptel shows laser sensors
    Finnish company Noptel is demonstrating its Speeder X1 and CMP52 laser distance measurement sensors at the show. The Speeder X1 uses a dual laser transmitter to provide overlapping vehicle profile analysis for speed, height and length measurement, while the CMP52 single-beam laser radar is applicable to a range of traffic control and law enforcement duties.