"California and the West; Interagency Lab Targets Digital Evidence; Crime: FBI Chief Freeh Says Nation's First Regional Computer Forensics Facility Will Serve as Prototype" Los Angeles Times (11/15/00) P. 1-3; Perry, Tony FBI Director Louis Freeh presided over the recent dedication of the country's first interagency forensics laboratory for the collection and analysis of digital evidence. Serving the western United States, the San Diego laboratory employs professionals from 17 federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. The use of computers by law enforcement to track down child pornographers and stock market manipulators has received a great deal of attention in recent years, but officials say the lab also gathers and analyzes evidence in other crimes. "Stalkers, murderers, rapists, robbers - all kinds of people keep notes, and they tend to keep them on their computers," said San Diego County District Attorney Paul Pfingst. The trial of white supremacist Alexander James Curtis for the harassment of four San Diego officials may involve evidence gathered from his computers and Web sites. Law enforcement personnel can also receive evidence gathering training from the laboratory, including proper digital evidence removal and security system circumvention. Local law enforcement has responded eagerly to the lab's resources; "The day we opened our doors, we were inundated with cases," said Ken Basore, the lab's operations manager. Freeh hopes the San Diego lab will become a model for similar regional efforts. -- archive: http://theMezz.com/cybercrime/archive unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] url: http://theMezz.com/alerts ___________________________________________________________ T O P I C A http://www.topica.com/t/17 Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics
