Junction City Police Logo (Credit: junctioncity-ks.gov/)

Junction City, Kansas, sits near the confluence of the Smoky Hill and Republican rivers, which form the Kansas River — also known as the Kaw. In the early 1870s, the mayor of Junction City hired the famed lawman and gunfighter Wild Bill Hickok to help rid the growing frontier town of violent vigilante groups who were terrorizing the community. Today, the 49 sworn offices and 25 civilian staff of the Junction City Police Department serve and protect the city’s 25,000 residents.

While Junction City’s rough-and-tumble frontier days are history, there’s still an ample supply of lawless actors committing all manner of crimes in the community. “I always say that Junction City has small-town people and big-city crime,” said Lieutenant Cory Odell, a 13-year law enforcement veteran who leads the department’s Investigations Division. “We’re really pushing hard to drive down the violent crime rate in our jurisdiction. And we see the gamut, from homicides to narcotics trafficking to aggravated assaults and batteries.”

The Junction City Police Department is pursuing a digital strategy and using advanced technology to gather digital evidence more easily and expedite investigative work. (Credit: ksnt.com)

As part of their work to reduce violent crime, and other crimes like financial and property crime, the Junction City Police Department is pursuing a digital strategy and using advanced technology to expedite investigative work.

The Junction City Police Department recently adopted Cellebrite Pathfinder to automate the analysis of digital data and visualize case narratives. It also added Cellebrite Premium (now known as Inseyets) to access and collect digital evidence from all iOS and high-end Android devices faster. The department expects these investments to be especially useful in expediting narcotics investigations, which often demand quick analysis of multiple devices.

Finding a Better Way to Manage Data and Track Connections Between Criminal Actors

Lieutenant Odell has been working for years to add up-to-date digital investigative solutions to investigators’ toolsets. (Credit: junctioncity-ks.gov/)

Lieutenant Odell and his team, including Detective Michael Vallon, had been trying for years to make the case for adding Cellebrite solutions to investigators’ technology toolset.

They pointed to a drug interdiction case from the past decade, which they cited as the turning point when investigators realized the agency should expand its use of Cellebrite solutions as soon as possible.

Detective Michael Vallon understands the immense difference current digital investigative solutions can make for investigators, especially in gathering evidence from encrypted devices. (Credit: junctioncity-ks.gov/

In June 2013, an interdiction officer stopped a driver for speeding in Junction City. During the stop, the officer searched the driver’s pickup truck and found nearly $850,000 in cash, along with evidence of narcotics trafficking. Investigators with the Junction City Police Department used Cellebrite Physical Analyzer, which they had recently adopted, to collect data from the suspect’s mobile phone.

The investigators found the full message history between the suspect and the individuals he was working for — but that wasn’t all. “The suspect was running GPS on his phone,” said Lieutenant Odell. “And the examination of digital evidence from the device showed all the GPS points through different states. After that, federal authorities got involved, and there was a major seizure of both currency and narcotics.”

The suspect, who was in his late 70s when he was arrested, was sentenced in 2016 to 10 years in prison for running a massive drug operation that netted millions of dollars over several decades. And it all began with that one traffic stop on a summer’s night in Junction City.

“Our successful investigation of this case was directly related to the enhanced capabilities we had from Cellebrite Physical Analyzer,” said Lieutenant Odell. “And we’ve used Cellebrite technology on every major case since.” However, he also notes that the investigation would’ve taken much less time if the team had Cellebrite Pathfinder back then.

Cellebrite Physical Analyzer enables the examination of multiple data sources from the broadest range of mobile applications, digital devices, warrant returns and the cloud. (Credit: Cellebrite)
Cellebrite Physical Analyzer enables the examination of multiple data sources from the broadest range of mobile applications, digital devices, warrant returns, and the Cloud. (Credit: Cellebrite)

Transforming the Investigation Process with Technology — for the Better

Lieutenant Odell and Detective Vallon said almost every case they encounter now involves some aspect of digital evidence collection — and that this evidence is becoming increasingly critical for prosecutions.

“More and more, the court is expecting to see digital evidence when you take cases to court,” said Lieutenant Odell. “And not just for major drug cases or felony-level homicides, but all types of cases. It’s almost to the point where if we don’t have digital evidence to present with the case, there’s a likelihood the case won’t be prosecuted.”

Lieutenant Odell further stresses the importance of law enforcement agencies, including smaller departments like Junction City’s, adopting a formal, digital strategy. “If you don’t have a digital strategy, you’re going to lose the battle,” he said. “There’s no way to be successful in law enforcement now if you don’t have a digital arm. You’re going to miss things, you’re going to miss people, and you’re not going to get a handle on your crime.”

Odell continues, “Technology has stood our investigation process on its head. When I started in law enforcement, we’d conduct interviews, look for videos, and do all the legwork first. Then, we might get a search warrant and look at a device. But now, after we get a warrant, one of the first things we do is examine mobile devices. Based on the digital evidence we find, then we say, ‘OK, now let’s go talk to this person or that person and see if maybe we can find some video.’ In short, digital investigative solutions have completely reversed the order of our investigative work.”