An ever-growing abundance of digital evidence
Today, police forces are adopting new tools for surveillance to gather evidence. From CCTV systems on-site to the use of body-worn cameras, drones, biometrics, and more – the amount of digital evidence is increasing exponentially. Since almost everyone has the capability to capture photos and videos using mobile phones, crowdsourced evidence has also had a significant impact on crime investigations.
In addition, police forces have increasingly begun to digitize records to make information more searchable, auditable, and reliable, while reducing the administrative burden and reducing the workload on officers. Further, the use of digital evidence has significantly increased in the past few decades since the courts started accepting most digital files as evidence. As the amount of digital evidence grows enormously, many law enforcement agencies face a variety of complex issues managing it.
The demand for appropriate tools to handle digital evidence
One of the biggest issues of the abundance of digital evidence concerns the security associated with the sharing of this data. A recent study on criminal justice by the EU stated that stakeholders participating in the criminal justice system need to securely communicate and exchange information via digital means. This calls for solutions to allow stakeholders to communicate in a secure way, including sending and receiving sensitive and confidential data.
The study stated that “the lack of appropriate tools in cross-border cooperation can raise significant risks, such as: shared information is incomplete, or not updated; time is lost; data may be transmitted in an insecure way; links between cases are not identified; and conflicts of jurisdiction are not detected or solved on time. The recent COVID-19 crisis and its impact on judicial cooperation in criminal matters have endorsed the need for further digitalization of justice and has increased the need for immediate reaction and change.”
Based on the information provided by the EU, most of the experienced issues could be easily overcome through the availability of appropriate digital tools, thereby allowing most of the cooperation to continue as normal.
The ultimate guide to Digital Evidence Management
We have recently released a new eBook with even more insight into the challenges associated with an ever-growing abundance of digital evidence. The eBook focuses on 7 common challenges experienced throughout the lifecycle of digital evidence - from the time of capture and initial transfer, to management and sharing. This includes:
- Collection
- Preservation
- Search & analysis
- Sharing & Collaboration
- Workflow
- Integrations & APIs
- Security
In the eBook, you will also learn how a Digital Evidence Management solution can help to solve them.
For Police & Law Enforcement
7 common challenges & solutions
Learn how to handle an ever-growing abundance of digital evidence
