Crime in the 21st century has come a long way and crime in a connected world that leaves behind digital footprints has persuaded Bristol County’s District Attorney to install a new digital forensics lab.
Bristol County, Massachusetts, District Attorney Thomas Quinn was a prosecutor in the 1980s in cases that saw blood evidence the key to solving crimes and prosecuting criminals. These days, however, a sign of the change in times with the advent of personal technology means that digital footprints can almost always lead back to the crime during an investigation.
With this in mind, Quinn unveiled a digital forensics lab at his office wherein local police departments will be assisted in solving all kinds of crimes.
Quin stated:
During the past decade or so, prosecutors and police have become more aware of the fact that some form of digital evidence is being used in our investigations into crimes of all types.
The lab will be equipped with modern computers and software, offering a central space for detectives assigned to Quinn’s office will be able to extract deta from cell phones, tablets and laptops. Video from surveillance and recording devices can also be retrieved at the lab and the footage can be studied further through a video-enhancement feature that the lab provides.
“Through this initiative,” Quinn said, “we are hopeful that more major crimes will be solved, more convictions will be won, and most importantly, more victims of crime will receive justice.”
The lab will train officers and troopers besides assisting local law enforcement agencies in solving murders and other major crimes, according to The Sun Chronicle.
Smartphones, in particular, are being used in a number of ways to facilitate crimes including drug crimes, domestic assaults, child pornography and more, Quin stated.
A recent infamous case that saw the murder trial of New England Patriot’s player Aaron Hernandez used digital evidence, where jurors saw Hernandez’s car picking up Odin Llyod into an Industrial area, before Hernandez was seen carrying a gun inside his home within minutes of the 2013 murder.
Quinn added:
I can say with a high degree of certainty, digital evidence presented during the trial was critical in obtaining a conviction.
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