Law-enforcement technologySecure evidence gathering using mobile devices

Published 22 October 2013

At-Scene, a provider of mobile law enforcement applications and solutions, yesterday unveiled the iCrime Fighter Enterprise mobile evidence gathering solution for secure field data collection using smart phones and other mobile devices.

At-Scene, a provider of mobile law enforcement applications and solutions, yesterday unveiled the iCrime Fighter Enterprise mobile evidence gathering solution for secure field data collection using smart phones and other mobile devices. The iCrime Fighter solution, which was officially launched yesterday at the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in Philadelphia, allows officers in the field to capture field notes, evidence, images, videos, and audio statements at the scene using the iCrime Fighter app and securely upload all files to http://www.icrimefighter.com.

The company notes that unlike standard mobile device apps, iCrime Fighter Enterprise is FIPS 140-2 compliant, using advanced encryption to ensure safe uploading of data to the AWS GovCloud for secure evidence storage and reporting or dissemination to other officers, departments, or law enforcement agencies.

At-Scene says that smart phones and other mobile devices are increasingly being used by law enforcement officers in the field because they offer convenience and enable departments to replace digital cameras, video cameras, audio recorders, and field notebooks with one hand-held solution. The standard mobile applications used to take photos, audio files, and notes on these devices, however, are not secure. Keeping unencrypted data on a device that can be dropped, lost, or broken in a scuffle, or sending unencrypted data, runs the risk of evidence being lost or falling into the wrong hands.

iCrime Fighter takes uses advanced encryption technology to keep information uploaded to the smartphone secure.

“Mobile law enforcement technology is here to stay, but until now there has not been a way for officers and departments to ensure that data gathered using hand-held, mobile devices in the field can be securely uploaded and stored for immediate or future use,” said Mario Galasso, former police sergeant and CEO of At-Scene. “In addition to data security issues, once an officer starts using a smartphone for evidence-gathering, all data stored on the device makes the entire device subject to subpoena, leaving the officer without his or her indispensable field tool. With iCrime Fighter Enterprise, we upload and store all data on the highly secure AWS GovCloud, enabling easy access to the data as needed with no risk of SD cards, photos, audio files, statements or notes being misfiled or tied-up in back-logged evidence rooms,” Galasso explained.

“Before my agency began using the iCrime Fighter mobile evidence platform, it was difficult to use smart devices for evidence collection due to concerns about data security and difficulty pulling data from individual apps,” said Amos Halava, police officer and IT professional for the Watauga Police Department, Watauga, Tennessee. “With iCrime Fighter running on our smart devices, we spend less time juggling multiple pieces of equipment and can better focus on gathering the evidence and statements we need. Being able to immediately file the information in a secure way means we save even more time back at the office when it comes to filing reports and logging evidence,” Halava added.

The iCrime Fighter works with mobile technologies like the iPhone, iPad, and Android, ad uses AWS GovCloud, a secure cloud service developed for and used by the federal government and law enforcement agencies, to provide secure data storage that scales from a one-man department to large agencies.