Hong Kong police launch first mobile forensics lab to solve crimes faster


Hong Kong police have launched their first mobile forensics laboratory, equipped with advanced technology to speed up response time to crime scenes and evidence testing results.

The HK$1.4 million (US$179,815) van turned lab was introduced in the final quarter of 2024 and used for the first time in a murder case earlier this month, according to the force.

“The time frame from the moment we arrive at the crime scene until all results are obtained has been shortened from half a day to one hour or more,” said Tan Tung-fai, chief inspector of the Identification Bureau’s advanced technology section.

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Tan said an average of seven cases required his section’s help every year, adding he expected that his team would be called to survey more crime scenes, now that the lab had been launched.

“The mobile lab is particularly used for serious crimes such as murder cases,” he said.

The lab has three sections: a fingerprint examination workstation, storage space for instruments and tools, and support equipment for outdoor operations.

Tan said officers could conduct chemical examinations and take pictures of fingerprints in the lab. They could also send fingerprint photos from the crime scenes to police headquarters.

The mobile lab is divided into three sections. Photo: Dickson Lee

He added the storage space was designed to house testing instruments, saving officers the need to transport tools to crime scenes and, hence, cutting response time from four hours to around one.

He said the vehicle’s rear section carried equipment for outdoor operations, such as portable tents, professional outdoor lighting systems and mobile power generators.

Tan added that the laboratory’s readiness enabled investigators to establish a mobile forensic examination and command centre immediately when needed.

The equipment inside the van included four new machines – a 3D contactless fingerprint scanner, a reflective short-wave ultraviolet fingerprint detector, an aggregation-induced emission fingerprint detector and a multispectral fingerprint imaging system.

Officers can conduct chemical examinations and take pictures of fingerprints in the lab. Photo: Dickson Lee

Tan said these imported machines cost between HK$200,000 and HK$400,000 each, and would greatly enhance their capability to check fingerprints and improve investigative processes.

He said the reflective short wave detector could target surfaces with latex paint, complex background patterns and materials containing fluorescent substances for better fingerprint detection.

The other detector could react with aggregation-induced emission nanoparticles and fingerprint secretions for clear display.

He added that the 3D scanner mainly used a contactless method to capture deceased people’s fingerprints right after death.

The multispectral fingerprint imaging system could use designated lights and filters to acquire fingerprints non-destructively.

Tan revealed that his team conceived the idea for the mobile lab and started applying for funding in 2019. He said he would review whether more mobile labs would be needed.

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