Follow the evidence: Meeting the standards of evidence collection
Across the public sector, the need to go digital increases by the day. More and more agencies are seeing not just a benefit in digitising processes to drive efficiency and cost savings, but the chance to offer a better service with what is often severely limited resources. With the world moving swiftly to a point where digital by default is becoming the norm, it’s important to examine how this affects those on the frontline.
In this series on fighting crime through technology, we have already looked at how data and analytics can save money and help police efficiency as well as how courtroom video technology can improve the justice system. Now let’s examine how Microsoft technology is being used by law enforcement on both sides of the Atlantic to more efficiently and accurately collect and audit sensitive evidence.
Evidence collection: Meeting the standards
Here in the UK, Coeus Software observed that police were facing real challenges when it came to vital processes such as collecting evidence. In short, the mobile technologies they were using did not have sufficient flexibility to make their work easier. With this in mind, Coeus took on the ‘cloud first, mobile first’ mind-set and used Microsoft Azure along with Azure Web Services and Azure SQL Database to bring its Quvo®, Mozzo® and PoliceBox® apps to life. The goal: To facilitate a truly mobile workforce.
Coeus understood that a mobile police force must have the ability to collect data that can be audited. So they developed the PoliceBox app that will work on multiple devices and meet the exacting digital evidence standards of the UK Home Office. This meant ensuring that what they built had the ability to record metadata on every task to create a trail that was both compliant and auditable. This was particularly pressing given that most apps in the consumer space could not provide evidential authenticity.
Using Azure to allow easy scalability while remaining cost-effective, Coeus have created flexible, mobile solutions for workforces that require auditable data. Case closed.
Scaling to the size of the emergency
In the US, technology is also being used to push the boundaries of evidence collection. Forensic Advantage Systems used the Microsoft Azure Government cloud platform to create an app called Incident Response 360. It is designed to assist those investigating crimes to analyse and share information across law enforcement agencies. Users can create and update cases, record evidence, and even bring together information taken from emergency phone calls. The application can be set to varying levels of security, depending on the user’s level of clearance.
During an emergency such as an earthquake or terrorist attack, Incident Response 360 can be used to facilitate multiple agencies working together to share information in the coordination of their efforts. This might include identifying victims and their property more quickly, synthesising data into comprehensive reports, and updating other agencies.
Just as Coeus Software built their app to be compliant with UK Home Office standards, Forensic Advantage Systems used the Microsoft Azure Government cloud platform because of the unprecedented level of online security it offers – providing a broad range of certifications including compliance with the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services security policy.
And because law enforcement’s work may vary greatly in size, from small crime scenes to large natural disasters, the requirement to scale easily is paramount. With Azure, Forensic Advantage Systems can provide a cost-effective and secure way to upload Incident Response 360 to the cloud for customers to use.
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Keeping the police one step ahead
There’s no doubt that some incredible work is underway to help police forces work more efficiently and collaboratively through technology. But there are real challenges. On a regular basis, we hear stories reported about major police forces still using apps and platforms that have long-since stopped being supported, and are therefore vulnerable to security threats.
Just putting a mobile device in a police officer’s hands does not solve the problem. Because as these examples demonstrate, it’s the mobility of the experience, not the device, that matters. Officers need to move seamlessly between the various environments in which they work, with the latest data always at their fingertips. And that data must be compliant and auditable. Simply providing tablets instead of a pen and paper is not enough – a complete solution is required to allow for greater collaboration, sharing, and security.
Breakthroughs such as Microsoft’s HoloLens point to a future of policing where crime scenes could be recreated using augmented reality. But just as we are already seeing with these huge advances in evidence collection, it’s not about the technology itself – it’s what it allows law enforcement officials to do in their daily work to keep us safe.
