A virtual crime scene is a digital replica of an actual crime scene. This criminal investigation tool began to be adopted by police forces around the world in the late 1990s. While the abilities and applications of virtual crime scenes are a bit exaggerated in television dramas, they are certainly useful, and they are making up a larger part of criminal investigation as they become more sophisticated. Several companies specialize in producing software which is specifically designed for building virtual crime scenes.

The concept of a virtual crime scene arose from an age-old tradition of recreating parts of crime scenes to assist with criminal investigation. Hundreds of years ago, investigators drew sketches and sometimes built models to assist themselves, and with the advent of the camera police investigations started to include detailed photographs of the scene. This recorded data ensured that the facts of the scene would be accessible long after it was cleaned up, and this often proved useful.

Early virtual crime scenes were made in software which was not ideal for the purpose, but investigators found these replications useful enough to persevere. In software which is designed to create a virtual crime scene, investigators can enter parameters such as the dimensions of a room, locations of windows, and location of every single object in the room. The virtual crime scene is constructed with the assistance of photographs from the scene, along with measurements from tools used by architects and surveyors to ensure that the scene is to scale.

When a crime scene needs to be quickly cleaned up, a virtual crime scene is extremely useful, because investigators can continue to consider the scene for days or weeks. A virtual crime scene may also be used to test theories about the crime, or to consider whether or not witness statements are valid and useful. Courtrooms may also see virtual crime scenes, as one side or the other presents a virtual crime scene to support a point.

A virtual crime scene is only one object in a large library of tools which are used to solve crimes. Investigators still need to collect and analyze evidence, interview persons of interest, and physically visit the scene to look for things that they may have missed. However, the virtual crime scene is definitely a valuable tool, especially since it can also be used in training so that inexperienced investigators do not inadvertently compromise a crime scene.