When Aberdeen police sought help investigating Monday's double homicide at a convenience store, they sped to a nondescript facility tucked away at Aberdeen Proving Ground.
In a small beige building, investigators began the meticulous, frame-by-frame process of enhancing the surveillance video taken from the store, using Army technology so sophisticated it could easily freeze-frame the image of a rocket as it hits a target.
Officials will say only that the image of a gunman was retrieved from the tape at the Aberdeen Wawa, where Melissa Pennington, 18, and Nancy A. Atkinson, 31, both of Aberdeen, were killed in what police are investigating as a botched robbery attempt.
It is the kind of assistance that has been available to state and local law enforcement agencies for three years, part of an effort by the International Imaging Center at the Army Test Center to reach out to the community.
"The assistance we gave to the Aberdeen police is just a small part of what we do here," said David L. Jennings, chief of the imaging center. "Most of our work involves the testing that is done here at APG."
Harford County officials have long promoted partnerships with Aberdeen Proving Ground, which has advanced technology normally not made available to most communities.
The International Imaging Center has been at APG for 50 years. There, a staff of 50, working with millions of dollars worth of technology, has the ability to develop everything from 35 mm film to X-ray film.
On the "Wall of Fame" at the imaging center, the path of a large-caliber round is followed frame-by-frame in photographs to show how the ammunition reacted on impact.
In another photo, the firing of a round of ammunition is stopped with such clarity that the writing on the round is visible. Using advanced cameras, officials said, they can chronicle what happens when a projectile is fired from a tank.
Mark Stern, chief of technical photo at the center, said ultra-high-speed images can be captured at 100 million frames per second, allowing for an eight-picture sequence of a viper-shaped warhead traveling over 20,000 feet per second.
"A standard VCR is 30 frames per second, so you can see the rate of speed we are talking about," Stern said. "We can take an explosion that happened super-fast and make several images of it."
As part of the ballistics research, the center uses underwater and laser photography, night vision equipment, aerial videography, graphics, and animation.
The facility also was one of the first to use digital photography now popular with computer enthusiasts, but at a steeper price. While a digital camera for the average consumer costs $300 to $400, those used at the imaging center can cost upward of $300,000.
"It's a lot higher-end than what the average consumer is used to dealing with," said Jennings.
In the video editing suites, technicians are able to transfer video images -- such as the ones in the Aberdeen slayings -- to digital images before isolating them and making prints. Jennings said technicians never manipulate the images, but enhance them by lightening the scene or making it clearer.
"A lot of times, we will let [law enforcement] do as much of the operation as they can so they are working the equipment," Jennings said. "We just consider it part of the community support we are here to offer."
Pub Date: 3/05/99