by Yossi Carmil, Co-CEO, Cellebrite*
While ordinary citizens may feel like the proverbial rug has been pulled out from under them when a disaster strikes, law enforcement is trained to deal with crises. Natural disasters, civil unrest and terrorist attacks have planned responses that teams all over the world have simulated and trained for time and again.
The current health threat is a crisis few have planned for but, as they have done in the past, citizens have turned to law enforcement for support and reassurance that the situation is being controlled. And just as they have always done, law enforcement is responding valiantly. However, government and law enforcement leaders still face the challenge of finding solutions to flatten the curve while maintaining a sustainable force.
We see amazing examples daily of the leadership, bravery and creativity shown as teams take on difficult assignments that are far outside of their normal duties.
What’s Happening Now
Across the world, agencies are reassessing officer resources and taking drastic measures to protect the men and women in their ranks. This means fewer detectives and other support services are available to protect the community and work critical criminal cases, which in many instances are now being limited to violent felony cases (i.e. homicide, sexual assault, robbery, etc.).
Ultimately, it means having to accomplish a much larger mission without increasing resources. Regardless of when the infection curve is flattened and stabilized, technology can play a key role in keeping resource-strapped agencies from being overwhelmed.
The Changing Role of Technology
The ability to be adaptive in times of crisis has everything to do with establishing efficiencies within the investigative process. In these times, investigative duties need to be accomplished from remote or provisional command centers.
Managing and controlling data, secure storage, data analysis incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) and data visualization are three areas that can make a difference in any crisis. With new applications of this technology readily available, agencies are discovering new efficiencies in the way investigations can be conducted—and all these functions can be handled from remote locations.
Managing and Controlling Data: As an agency manager, you have spent incredible resources building up your secure facilities. In this time of crisis, you bear the weight of transitioning away from these facilities, which could jeopardize the safety of your community. The challenge facing law enforcement leadership is how to maintain data integrity while preserving standard operating procedures, no matter where your officers are required to work from.
Secure Storage: Having a central repository into which data can be uploaded and secured in a forensically sound manner is paramount under normal circumstances—and doubly so in times of crisis.
Analyzing Data & Leveraging Insights: As stated in the latest Europol report, during times of crisis, criminal activity increases. The ability of officers to access and analyze case data securely, from any location, empowers your force to advance investigations and lessen the impact of COVID-19 without sacrificing one for the other.
Looking toward the future
As we look forward, digital intelligence will play a key role in every phase of the law enforcement process from how police forces will be deployed to the way prosecutors will handle cases. Like military commanders, agency managers must be able to see the full scope of the crisis battlefield in order to take the appropriate action. This means being able to visualize all of the available intelligence in an integrated and governed manner.
The days ahead will no doubt challenge all of us in ways we cannot begin to imagine. Cooperation between law enforcement and their respective governments will be critical and the sharing of information paramount as we all work in partnership to deal with the current health crisis.
We wish to express our extreme gratitude for all that law enforcement is doing to keep our communities safe. And we stand ready to support you in whatever ways we can. To learn more about how Cellebrite can you help you, visit www.cellebrite.com. These are unprecedented times, but by working together, we will get through this and our world will be a safer place.
*Please note: This is the first in a three-part series about the current state of law enforcement due to the pandemic and how to best leverage forensic technology in this time of crisis. Yossi Carmil is the Co-Chief Executive Officer of Cellebrite and serves on the company’s board of directors. He brings more than 20 years of experience in executive leadership, global sales, and business development. Prior to joining Cellebrite, Yossi held a senior business strategy consulting role at Bain and Company and served as the VP of Commercial for Siemens LTD.