A high-end thermal imaging system such as FLIR‘s Star SAFIRE HD offers law enforcement officers a powerful search tool for detecting heat-emitting objects across large search areas. The system offers a high-definition infrared camera mounted to an airborne unit that produces both EO (electro-optic) color and IR (infrared) white-hot images. Photos courtesy of FLIR Systems.

Photo 1

Thermal imaging makes us of the difference in temperature between an object and its surroundings. This image was taken from a Star SAFIRE system mounted to a fixed-wing PC-12 in Hillsboro, Ore.

Photo 2

High-end thermal imagers render stunning detail, such as this person seen walking next to a moving train in Montreal, Canada. The camera offers 780/1080 thermal and color resolution.

Photo 3

This high-definition infrared image was taken above the city of Montreal with the FLIR Star SAFIRE HD.

Photo 4

Thermal radiation occurs in wavelengths of about 900 to 1,400 nanometers, above that of visible light. This image was taken at a campus in Lake Oswego, Ore.

Photo 5

High-end thermal imagers have color displays showing temperature gradients across the entire observed area. This image was taken at a school campus in Portland, Ore.

Photo 6

Thermal imaging used in law enforcement applications is passive, in that there is no IR source at the viewing end. A man in dark clothing hiding in a tree at night may be all but invisible to the naked eye, and even difficult to spot if a flashlight is turned on him. To a thermal imager, the body heat coming off his skin and through his clothing is as bright as a road flare in a cave. This image came from FLIR’s H-Series hand-held camera.