(Newswire.net — October 9, 2014) — During the last few years, academics Ray Harris, and Ray Purdy have teamed up on interdisciplinary investigational projects conducted from outer space. Accordig to Harris and Purdy, most lawyers, insurance investigators and legal enforcement officials lack any experience or knowledge in this developing field.
Although they mainly target clients from the private sector, their potential clients could be governments as well.
The professors say they have some background in dealing with a variety of legal cases, ranging from investigating fraud and environmental assaults to human rights investigations.
Google Earth as satellite data has some pitfalls, according to the company’s directors, it’s not always easy to use such sources of information in a legal setting.
“Trials have been collapsing because courts cannot be convinced of the authenticity of image data,” said Purdy.
“Because it is always possible to modify a digital image, you need strong archiving procedures plus information on when it was captured and what happened to it subsequently,” said Harris. “We know how to do that.”
One of their clients was an insurance company who covered a New Orleans home that the owners claimed had been destroyed by Hurricane Katrina . Backed by the database of the space-based images Harris was able to help the insurance company prove that the damage occurred after hurricane hit the city.
“As the resolution gets better we will be able to do things like search fields for graves (recently dug earth) in cases of abduction, or trace where certain pollutants came from before they entered watercourses,” Purdy said.
Their new high-tec detective agency named “Air & Space Evidence” has no plans to investigate marital infidelity cases, although the technology would in theory make it possible since “hugging, kissing take place outdoors.” said Purdy.
“It’s an innovative idea. Investigators should welcome the ability to identify the time an incident occurred using before and after satellite or aerial images.” said Paul Champion, a private investigator from UK and a governor of the Association of British Investigators. Champion believes that space based images will revolutionize the private eye business.