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How Forensic Advantage builds strong cases with the Cloud

Focus on: Empower employees, Optimize operations, Transform products

She locates the DNA evidence and types in some quick notes. Before she leaves the scene, she’ll interview two witnesses, then upload all of the information she’s gathered so that the rest of the team and their partner agencies can gain access and add their own data.

This isn’t a CSI episode. It’s real life, and the crime scene evidence gathered will help to build a case that law enforcement officers can use in court.

The evidence at a crime scene tells a story that helps detectives and investigators determine what happened and build a case for the court. Much like what we see in crime shows, building that case relies on photos, DNA, blood spatter, bullet trajectory, and eyewitness testimony gathered from the scene.

What those crime dramas on TV might not show is how tedious the process is, and the many opportunities for all of that evidence to be discounted throughout the chain of custody. Any disruption of that evidence could hinder the outcome of a case.

Each crime scene has multiple moving parts and many people who work to bring the evidence together to create a case.

Every piece of evidence is likely touched by hundreds of employees. That leaves a great deal of room for human error such as rekeying mistakes and the mishandling of data. The government spends millions of dollars to take a case to court, and just one minor technicality can get it thrown out, wasting all those efforts, not to mention taxpayer dollars.

Dr. Peter Natale knew there was a better way to collect, store, and analyze the data. As Vice President of Forensic Advantage Systems, Peter and his staff of 16 are dedicated exclusively to using the latest technologies to design products for public safety and justice. Moving away from outdated processes and legacy systems takes much more than just the flip of a switch, but the benefits of transforming to a digital-first enterprise has untold benefits. In fact, digital transformation is a movement that is creating unprecedented opportunities for organizations of all shapes and sizes. In the government sector, digital-first companies are making tremendous strides by optimizing operations, empowering employees, engaging citizens and transforming systems.

Forensic Advantage uses cutting-edge technology to change the way crime scenes are handled. For the first time, detectives are able to bring all the evidence into one system to gather, analyze, document, manage, store, and use during a court proceeding.

Once a case goes to court, other obstacles stand in the way.

Empowering employees to work remotelyDetectives and investigators perform the majority of their work out in the field. At a crime scene, it’s critical that they are able to work efficiently and effectively without stumbling blocks. They must be able to access all the information from a case in order to analyze it, and collaborate across departments and federal organizations.

Forensic Advantage puts the technology of Microsoft Surface tablets in the hands of law enforcement for an instant 360-degree view of the crime scene. A detective can enter a crime scene and quickly capture all data with the built in camera. Imagine being able to take pictures of the scene, map the blood spatter and bullet trajectories, determine the location of DNA evidence, and input interview details and notes from your team all in one secure location.
Maintaining the chain of custody with AzureOnce that data is collected it comes back to the law enforcement agency. “For the first time, disparate data from a case is being brought together in a secure way,” says Peter. “From the 911 call to the crime scene, to the lab, to the court, we’ve created an irrefutable chain of evidence for a more solid case with a greater opportunity for success.”

One of the most important aspects of law enforcement is maintaining the chain of custody. Forensic Advantage’s Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) application facilitates the analysis of the evidence and the conglomeration of information regarding the crime, notes, and data, resulting in more thorough reports.

“Through the Windows 10 application sitting up in Azure, we can even pull in experts to help us prioritize data and produce a discovery packet to present to a judge,” Peter explains. “Our goal is to help our customers get more bad guys off the streets.”

Because there are so many moving parts and so many people in different departments who have a hand in each case, many law enforcement agencies rely on Azure to control access, decide who can collaborate on a case, and manage permissions. From ensuring proper evidence handling to controlling privileged access and keeping a complete record of all evidence in one location, “the Azure platform gives us the ability to do so much more than we ever did before,” Peter says.

“Does the bullet casing match the gun found on the suspect? This is the kind of information we can determine conclusively using Forensic Advantage and Microsoft technology.”

Peter and his team previously kept all Forensic Advantage solutions on-premises. As more mature law enforcement workers cycle out, organizations are becoming more willing to embrace advanced tech, which includes leveraging the cloud. With the advent of CJIS and FedRAMP, more agencies are moving their data to the cloud, or a hybrid environment. Microsoft Azure for Government extends world-class security and control for dedicated public sector workloads. So now, applications are being migrated to Azure and in some cases, to a hybrid cloud environment.

Peter’s goal is to create a single platform that supports both on-premises and cloud environments. Using the Azure platform will allow his team to scale the solution as quickly as customers would like.
A clear vision for the futureThe company plans to continue helping various government agencies integrate Forensic Advantage applications including their Unified Justice System, Laboratory Information Management, Breath Alcohol Database, and their newest offering, a sexual assault kit tracking system that helps victims keep tabs on their case as it develops.

All of these applications are baked in Azure and help to analyze and integrate data. Facial recognition and HoloLens crime scene reconstruction and analysis within other public safety organizations, including the military and disaster investigations, are in various stages of development.

Today, agencies in 40% of U.S. states are using Forensic Advantage to simplify the roles of detectives, investigators, law enforcement agencies, medical examiners and coroners, and state and local public safety agencies. But the end goal is much greater than making jobs easier, or even saving taxpayer money. Forensic Advantage helps to create safer streets, safer communities, and safer cities for all citizens. And that makes all the work worthwhile for David Romig, President of Forensic Advantage Systems. “Our tech is valueless if there’s no benefit to society,” he says.

 


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