Friday, September 23, 2005
RCMP CSI SQUAD LAUDED FOR FART-SNIFFING
Paris (FN) - The Regina detachment of the RCMP's forensic unit today received the prestigious Paris-based Prix international de la science de police for their development of a gas spectrometer capable of detecting DNA markers in ambient organic gases such as human flatulence.
"It is a question as old as mankind itself: 'Who cut one?' Now, at last, we can answer that question with scientific accuracy," said project leader Cpl. Benjamin Dover.
The box-like device looks roughly like a tricorder from the original Star Trek. It makes a continuous faint sucking sound generated by the miniature vacuum used to collect air samples.
Dover anticipates that police will be able to use the device at crime scenes to find residual traces of suspects. He noted that it will also enable prosecutors to pursue previously unenforceable anti-flatuence laws.
Since the 1930's, Canada's Criminal Code has included "malicious flatulence with intent" under the public mischief sections of punishable offences. The crime carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail but has rarely been successfully prosecuted due to the near-impossibility of determining 'who dealt it' prior to the development of Dover's spectrometer.
"This is no laughing matter. It is the law. At last we will be able to stop wasting our time chasing car thieves and meth dealers and start dealing with this serious crime that has gone almost completely unpunished for over 70 years," said Dover.
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posted by Mentok @ 1:34 p.m.,
