Forensics droid

A forensics droid, crime scene investigation droid or crime scene analysis droid was a droid used in criminal investigations to gather and catalog evidence. They came in various sizes, with some similar in size to that of a thermal detonator. Some forensics droids were equipped with repulsorlifts, so as to not trample and thus damage evidence. These droids usually had a various assortment of tools including, probes, spectrometers, reagents, sample packs, as well as a full array of sensors which were used to record everything at the crime scene.^[1] Everything that a suspect could have come into contact with would be scanned and recorded down to the molecular level. The droid picked up all trace evidence it found, including fingerprints, hair, skin cells, and other bodily sources as well as uncommon forms of evidence like any remnants of exhaled gases and thermal traces.^[2]

Towards the end of the Galactic Republic, as the Dark side of the Force grew stronger, the abilities of the Jedi waned and they had to turn more and more to analysis droids to assist in solving crimes.^[3] Russo-ISC was a crime scene analysis droid assigned to the Jedi Temple and assisted Jedi Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano when they investigated the explosion in the Jedi Temple hangar.^[4] The SP-4 and JN-66 models used by the Jedi were also popular with scientists and police forensics units. They work best as a team, with JN-66 handling the experimentation and SP-4 drawing conclusions from the results. Cybot Galactica saved on manufacturing costs by repurposing many structural pieces from its popular line of PK-series worker droids.^[5]

The SP-4 is designed to interact with organics and possesses a humanoid body and oversize photoreceptors arranged in a style that most consider endearing. The attenuated stalk that houses the droid's vocabulator is reminiscent of the vocal organs of the Pa'lowick species.^[5]

The SP-4, which can wirelessly access mainframe data libraries, is built to analyze reams of data and arrive at a single, accurate solution. In a hypothetical case involving a shooting death, a police department SP-4 might look at weapon discharge patterns, weather reports from the day of the crime, biological charts of the victim's species, and a geometric triangulation of firing angles before fingering a likely suspect. Critics of SP-4s claim that droids are simply incapable of making the intuitive leaps that often provide the key to cracking difficult cases.^[5]

Police Prefect Pol Haus employed forensics droids at the scene of the murder of Caamasi light sculptor Ves Volette. Ben Skywalker and Lon Shevu also used a forensics droid to inspect Darth Caedus's StealthX. The droid found a hair with blood that had a positive match to Mara Jade Skywalker's. Ben used this evidence and others he had found, to prove to Luke, Han, Leia, and Jaina, that Caedus killed Mara, not Lumiya.^[6]