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Calgary Police celebrate 100th anniversary of forensic unit

CALGARY- They’ve come a long way since being a two person department, and now the Calgary Police Service is marking the 100th anniversary of their forensic unit.

92-year-old Hank Jackson was an investigator six decades ago, and got a tour of the state-of-the-art facility on Wednesday.

He said he’s shocked at the developments in technology.

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“We were mainly fingerprinting, nothing like they’ve got today,” he remembers. “It’s unreal, I can’t believe it.”

He looks back fondly on the era of when he was an officer.

“We didn’t have the crimes, the amount they have today, though Calgary wasn’t big like it is now.”

The police chief maintains that the force wouldn’t have had as many successes, without the scientific advances.

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“If our Ident section hadn’t developed as rapidly as it has and looked at new ways to gather evidence, a lot of crimes would have remained unsolved,” says Chief Rick Hanson.

When the Calgary Police Identification Bureau first opened in 1913, it was staffed with one detective and one constable.

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