By Dr. Jarrod Sadulski
Faculty Member, Criminal Justice
Technology continues to change law enforcement. To combat crime, law enforcement agencies must provide officers with sufficient training into all the technologies that can be utilized to identify, collect and preserve digital evidence.
In addition to traditional body-worn police officer cameras and household cameras, electronic evidence can be collected from various sources, including:
- Smartphones
- Cloud servers
- Laptops
- Smart devices
- Vehicles
- Digital security systems
Smartphones and Digital Evidence
Smartphones carry a ton of potential digital evidence, such as text messages, pictures, videos and social media posts. They can also hold messages transmitted through software such as Signal® and WhatsApp®; these messages are often encrypted and may need to be retrieved using digital forensic analysis.
Smartphones can also aid in police investigations by providing information about a suspect’s or victim’s:
- Current location through global positioning satellite (GPS) systems
- Proximity to a crime with location triangulation via cell phone towers
- Browser history
Cloud Servers
The cloud involves data stored on remote servers managed by a particular cloud company, and there are many cloud providers in existence. Even if data is wiped from a smartphone or local service, law enforcement can still access cloud data and use it as evidence.
Through my work as a criminologist and visits to prisons in the United States and in Central America, I often hear about the use of the cloud by convicted criminals.
The cloud is one of the most prominent ways that transnational criminal organizations communicate. Cloud servers contain a plethora of evidence involving many different crimes, such as:
- Human smuggling
- Human trafficking
- Narcotics trafficking
For example, cartels move contraband to the U.S. borders. Then, they depend on a network of gangs and other criminals to facilitate the movement of contraband within the United States, using cloud servers to communicate with each other and monitor financial ledgers.
There is a considerable amount of crime-specific data on the cloud. I testified to the U.S. Senate about this issue involving the cloud in July 2024.
Laptops
Laptops can also provide quite a bit of evidence that can lead to successful prosecutions. Digital evidence can be collected for cases involving financial crimes, crimes against children and other crimes where online patterns need to be tracked.
Smart Devices
Smart devices in Internet of Things (IoT) networks also contain a significant amount of digital evidence for law enforcement officers to collect and preserve. These devices include:
- Virtual assistants such as Amazon® Alexa®
- Smart home security systems, such as Ring cameras, that record exterior movement
- Smart motion detectors and home security cameras
- Smart wearables such as Apple® watches that monitor the physiological activity of the user and provide other health metrics that may be helpful for death investigation
- Bluetooth-connected devices that record data
Internet of Things networks can help law enforcement in different ways. Smart devices can capture data involving Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, routers and Wi-Fi connected to a crime.
Vehicles
Many of today’s vehicles have computerized systems. These internal computers can provide information about a driver’s locations and a vehicle’s speed when an accident occurred, as well as braking information.
For instance, Tesla® vehicles have camera systems that monitor activity around the vehicle. These camera systems create digital evidence that officers can collect as they investigate a crime.
Similarly, some drivers prefer to install dashboard cameras. These cameras are also capable of collecting digital video evidence.
Digital Security Systems
Digital security systems manage access controls for businesses and other locations. When necessary, police officers can use their digital information as evidence in a case.
How to Collect and Preserve Digital Evidence
To prevent digital evidence from being destroyed and maintain a proper chain of custody, officers should properly collect and preserve evidence. For smart devices and computers, it is all too easy for digital evidence to be erased remotely after an arrest. I have seen this problem occur many times during my career in law enforcement.
A tool that officers can use to prevent evidence from being remotely erased from a smartphone or a computer is a Faraday® bag. A Faraday bag blocks any electromagnetic or wireless signals to an electronic device once it is sealed in the bag, so that criminals cannot scrub any data remotely.
Maintaining the Chain of Custody for Digital Evidence
For digital evidence to be admissible in court, officers must show the proper chain of custody through documentation to ensure evidence integrity. This documentation should demonstrate how digital evidence was seized and the legal precedent that enabled the officer to seize the evidence.
For example, devices such as smartphones, computers, and other Internet of Things devices require a judge to issue a search warrant or an owner’s consent to obtain evidence.
Officers’ use of technology-based evidence, the legalities of how evidence was seized and the methods used to preserve that evidence will be scrutinized in court by attorneys. In a court case, for instance, officers will need to verify that digital evidence was not altered after collection, which can be shown through control access and evidence documentation.
Law Enforcement Agencies Need Clear Digital Evidence Policies and Procedures
Based on established digital forensics standards, law enforcement agencies should establish clear policies and procedures for collecting and handling digital evidence. This strategy will help to ensure that digital evidence will be admissible in court and protect people from future crimes.
Signal is a registered trademark of Signal Technology Foundation.
WhatsApp is a registered trademark of WhatsApp, LLC.
Amazon and Alexa are registered trademarks of Amazon Technologies, Inc.
Apple is a registered trademark of Apple, Inc.
Tesla is a registered trademark of Tesla, Inc.
Faraday is a registered trademark of Faraday Defense Corporation.
About the Author
Dr. Jarrod Sadulski is an associate professor in the School of Security and Global Studies and has over 20 years in the field of criminal justice. He holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Thomas Edison State College, a master’s degree in criminal justice from American Military University, and a Ph.D. in criminal justice from Northcentral University.
His expertise includes training on countering human trafficking, maritime security, organized crime, and narcotics trafficking trends in Latin America. Jarrod has also testified to both the U.S. Congress and U.S. Senate on human trafficking and child exploitation. He has been recognized by the U.S. Senate as an expert in human trafficking.
Jarrod frequently conducts in-country research and consultant work in Central and South America on human trafficking and current trends in narcotics trafficking. He serves as an expert witness in criminology. Jarrod has provided academic presentations across the United States and in Europe, Southeast Asia, and Latin America on various criminology-related topics. Also, he has a background in business development.
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