Credit: Northamptonshire Police
A new digital forensic vehicle known as a “digivan” is being used by Northamptonshire Police to help gather evidence and improve the policing experience for victims of rape and serious sexual assault. Officers and forensic investigators will no longer need to take away and retain a rape victim’s mobile phone for forensic analysis, which means the victim won’t lose this important lifeline after such a traumatic event.
Being without your phone or digital device when you’re feeling vulnerable is hugely impactive. Not having your phone in normal circumstances can be difficult enough, but at a time of trauma it’s even more distressing.
The digivan is a fully mobile, unmarked digital forensic unit that provides officers and forensic staff with faster and easier access to tools and technology to allow them to examine digital devices at any location and return them immediately after they have been processed.
“I am really pleased that we have this state-of-the-art digivan. It will increase the speed with which we can gather and analyses evidence and provide a much better service for victims of rape and serious sexual assault,” said Chief Constable Nick Adderley. “We can now travel to the victim and then do a rapid mobile examination on site, without having to take their phone away for analysis. This means minimal disruption to the victim and offers a much more sensitive approach.
The digivan contains all the equipment and software that an investigating team needs to perform phone extractions and conduct digital examinations at the scene of alleged sexual crimes. Officers and forensic staff can examine mobile phones and other digital devices at a variety of crime scenes, and give investigators faster access to the right digital evidence. They can perform selective or full physical data extraction, as it allows victims and witnesses to share only the data that’s relevant to the case, while leaving all other information private.
“We can take the digivan to a variety of locations and different crime scenes, so we’ll see improvements in examinations and productivity as we can triage at the scene. This will be particularly helpful to our Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Team (RASSO), our Pedophile Online Investigation Team (POLIT) and in the Management of Sexual or Violent offenders (MOSOVO),” said Detective Inspector Gary Collins of the Digital Forensic Unit.
Collins said the vehicle could help police considerably reduce investigation time. For example, when searching a suspect’s home, if several people live in the households, there are likely to be multiple devices—tablets, phones, laptops, USB sticks—that need to be processed. If the police remove all from the scene, it could potentially take months of investigation.
“We could be spending time examining devices that contain no evidence at all, whereas having the digivan, with an on-site triage kit, means we can do an initial digital examination there and then at the scene, and rapidly determine which devices need further analysis and which are superfluous and can be returned to owners—this more targeted approach means a much quicker turnaround of evidence,” said Collins.
The digivan has been built to bespoke specifications and equipped with state-of-the-art tools. It was supplied to the police as part of the UK government’s £5M Transforming Forensics Programme, which is designed to improve how policing handles rape and serious sexual assault, and lead to improvements in victim experience, scene examination and productivity.
“I want victims to get the best possible service, leading to the best possible outcome, and the digivan can only enhance the way the Force supports people when they are at their most vulnerable,” said Stephen Mold, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner. “I would like to see the digivan as part of an ongoing improvement to digital investigation services, and part of a holistic package of measures that keep women safe and create a better experience and outcome for victims in Northamptonshire.”
Republished courtesy of Northamptonshire Police.