Pierce County Sheriff’s Department Demonstrates How Digital Intelligence Can Supercharge Investigations Despite Tightening Budgets
“Digital forensic tools have the ability to be a force multiplier. I thought if I can spend an hour doing this thing and save hundreds of hours of investigative work without incurring the usual ancillary costs that go around the criminal justice system—then what a great tool that would be for the community.” – Detective Ryan Salmon, Pierce County Sheriff’s Department
As the ubiquity of smart devices increases, breakthrough evidence is increasingly hiding in stacks of 1s and 0s. So much so, digital forensics in investigations has surpassed that of DNA in some areas. According to statistics, a 2022 survey of US law enforcement agencies by Cellebrite found that 70% of respondents believed that digital evidence was more important than DNA evidence in solving crimes.
This sentiment was shared by Detective Ryan Salmon of the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department. Salmon has pushed for the adoption of digital intelligence and the use of emerging digital forensics technology and has seen the change in his department and community for the better—despite budgetary constraints.
“So, just in the context of having this tool, it allowed us to conduct the type of investigations that we need with a smaller budget and ones that juries and courts are starting to demand. We just saw with a high-profile homicide case how a Snapchat video essentially sealed the fate of the suspect —we have had dozens of examples just like that,” he shared.
Cellebrite Premium and Physical Analyzer Digital forensics tools – Pierce County Sheriff’s Department – Source: Cellebrite
According to Detective Salmon, there was one particularly high-profile case in 2012 that sparked it all, ultimately leading to Pierce County’s digital transformation.
“There was a family that put a diamond ring up for sale on Craigslist. Unfortunately, it resulted in some really bad people showing up at their house. They held the family hostage and the father fought back but was murdered in the process,” he shared.
At the time, they had one suspect, but they had nothing that would connect the person tangentially to the case in court. “So, we said why don’t we try to see if we can find his cell phone records,” Detective Salmon commented.
They were able to access those records and traced the suspect’s location to a cell tower nearby the scene of the crime. The evidence was presented to the deputy prosecuting attorney and was deemed substantial enough to ultimately land a guilty verdict.
“I still recall her reaction saying, “This is the whole case, he’ll have to plead guilty at this point!’” Detective Salmon added.
The experience sparked an idea in his head then, that digital forensics can be a force multiplier, accelerating case investigations while keeping costs within the county’s smaller budget. That’s when he motioned to his administration to acquire solutions like Cellebrite UFED and Physical Analyzer.
10 years on, in Pierce County, with its 350 sworn officers, digital intelligence still plays a pivotal role in investigations. Especially with the increased proliferation of smart devices.
“95% of the time, it’s three things that I need answers for in an investigation, which is: Where was the phone? Who sent the message from it and what was it?” Detective Salmon said. “And those things are done extremely easy for me with digital forensics solutions like Physical Analyzer for the past 10 years.”
An example he brought up was a case involving a deputy who was killed while responding to a home invasion. One intruder was taken down while the other fled. A dragnet was sent out and he was eventually caught. “He gave a fake name and lied about a bunch of stuff, but we were able to tie him to his deceased accomplice using Facebook,” Detective Salmon commented.
A locked phone was also retrieved. “We were able to access the phone within two hours and review the data. The suspect had discussed the crime—the murder of the deputy. With the ability to get into that phone so quickly, we were able to arrest him right away.”
Detective Salmon also found greater success when combining digital forensics from multiple multimedia sources like in a specific case involving the murder of a pregnant woman.
“The victim had an affair with a gentleman and ended up getting pregnant. She went over to his house, and he ended up killing her. Hid her body and any evidence that implicated him. He claimed he had no connection to her, but his phone data completely blew his alibi out of the water.”
As for the missing body, “We gained access to his car’s infotainment center, looked at his tracks with Physical Analyzer, and found her body based on the extracted data. It was a lot of moving parts for this case that needed digital intelligence,” Detective Salmon added.
Detective Salmon also cites several advantages of Digital Intelligence and Cellebrite’s solutions in real-world applications.
Patrol vehicle in forrest – Pierce County Sheriff’s Department – Source: Cellebrite
Cross-Agency Collaboration
Where there were gaps in digital forensics capabilities, Detective Salmon found it easy to collaborate with other parties that also possessed similar solutions and capabilities from Cellebrite. Notably with sister agencies that had Premium, which assisted in accessing newer devices.
Bridging public trust
One of the major challenges highlighted facing law enforcement, Detective Salmon notes how digital forensics tools and the collection of more scientific-based evidence have the potential to stem some of that mistrust. It also has the power to exonerate the wrongfully accused and present views from both sides.
Increasing officer safety
Instead of sending out officers for a stakeout for hours with its associated risks, more can be gleaned from the digital devices of suspects. A bulletproof vest is not needed when most of the work is done in front of a computer.
Reiterating his support for Digital Intelligence, digital forensics solutions, and his advice for agencies on the fence about taking the next leap in investigation evolution, he says “I feel like it’s almost irresponsible to not have some aspect of digital investigations in law enforcement. You aren’t realizing you can spend a little bit of money upfront and see this extreme value down the road. And I would encourage anybody making a budgetary decision to think about it from that perspective.”
Patrol vehicle in forrest – Pierce County Sheriff’s Department – Source: Cellebrite
