Report: UK Police Forces Behind On The Curve On Technological Advancements

A new analysis into the effectiveness of digital forensic units and practices in law enforcement finds a gap between the increasing need for digital forensic units to investigate and prosecute crimes and current police force capacity.

The report, released on Dec 1 by the United Kingdom’s His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), comes as online fraud and cybercrime threats continue to change the landscape of crime and in turn, how police respond.

“Unless improvements in digital forensics are made, policing will fall further behind in this digital revolution,” report authors concluded.

The goal of digital forensics is to examine, extract and process data from digital devices, but to do that effectively, police forces need to understand the demand and relevance of the initiative.

Unlike advancements in forensic sciences, where regulations and procedures for utilizing tools such as fingerprints and DNA have been standardized and common practice in the United Kingdom and around the world, digital forensics hasn’t been meeting the growth of the ways in which mobile phones and other devices give police many more ways to gather evidence.

The report looked at how well police forces understood and could manage their demand for digital forensics, and how well they were helping victims of crimes.

An August 2022 study shows a backlog of over 25,000 devices waiting to be digitally examined in the UK, up 32 percent from 2020. It did not include phones expected to already be in the systems used for examining cell phones. One large issue is how quickly the size of cell phone data is expanding and the lack of knowledge from police forces of the demand for digital forensics and how much it could help an investigation.

This includes a lack of knowledge on the impact mismanagement of digital forensics while still on the scene of a crime can have. Trained digital media investigators were found to be few and far between on the scene of crimes.

The police have also found it difficult to keep up with the pace of advances in digital and social media.

Due partially to a lack of knowledge of the issue, forces were found to struggle to keep pace with the amount of digital data storage required and how to respond to anticipated future demand.

The report acknowledged a lack of consensus on how to adapt to the challenge digital forensics presents but says it would be a mistake to continue investing more resources in an uncoordinated fashion.

The most likely long-term solution to the data storage issue would be cloud-based storage, but few are purportedly actively pursuing this option. The report noted a need for a coordinated effort to work together with forensic providers and other private businesses.

Recommendations

The report contained 9 main recommendations for the United Kingdom:

• By April 2023, the National Police Chiefs’ Council should appoint a dedicated lead for digital forensics, who should, by July 2023, develop a governance and oversight framework to better understand the national demand for digital forensic services.
• By December 2023, each force in England and Wales should develop a governance and oversight framework to better understand the local demand for digital forensic services.
• By April 2024, the National Police Chiefs’ Council, supported by the College of Policing, should encourage an increase in the number of dedicated, competent and trained digital media investigators available to advise investigators and at crime scenes.
• By September 2023, the National Police Chiefs’ Council and all forces within England and Wales need to include the management of digital forensic kiosks in their governance and oversight frameworks.
• By April 2023, the Home Office should review digital forensic budgets and funding. Future additional funding should support the national digital forensic strategy and be well communicated and easier to access.
• By April 2023, the College of Policing should make sure all its digital courses have sufficient focus on investigations and victims’ needs.
• By June 2023, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for digital forensics, the Home Office and relevant support services should provide guidance to all forces on the use of cloud-based storage and computing power.
• By November 2024, chief constables should integrate digital forensic services under their existing forensic science structure.
• By November 2024, the Home Office should work with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the College of Policing and the private sector to design an alternative operating model that would provide effective and sustainable digital forensic services to support police investigations.

Read the full report, titled ‘An inspection into how well the police and other agencies use digital forensics in their investigations,‘ here.