RCMP looks to 3D printing as potential new tool

OTTAWA • Remember that time we all thought 3D printed guns were going to unleash a new wave of terror and unchecked violence across the nation?

Fears about 3D firearms have largely subsided since an American company testfired the world’s first 3D printed gun in 2013 and published the design online, spawning a string of copycats and a flood of headlines.

Soon after that, Canada’s public safety department commissioned a study on ways to prevent the spread of 3D printed guns, while the U.S. Congress banned them outright.

But now, it seems, the RCMP is looking at 3D printing technology with fresh eyes. Last week, the B.C. RCMP issued a government tender for its very own 3D printer, with the aim of building models of vehicle accidents for use in court.

The printer would be used by the B.C. RCMP’s integrated collision analysis and reconstruction service (ICARS), which specializes in forensic reconstruction of collisions causing serious injury or death. It would be used in conjunction with the unit’s existing 3D technology,.

A 3D printer could be used to recreate “the way the car crumpled, the way the buildings were, the way the trees were, and then basically have a scale model for the jury to see,” said Mark Barfoot, managing director of a 3D printing research lab at the University of Waterloo. “It’s a little bit easier for juries to understand than a flat kind of drawing.”

John Biehler, a Vancouverbased 3D printing consultant, said he’s not aware of Canadian law enforcement making much use of the technology to date, but he believes it could gain popularity. “I think once one agency has some success with it ... all the other agencies are going to see that,” he said.