New labs fight new crimes (computer)
WAFF-TV (NBC-AL)
January 24, 2007
New labs are popping up across Alabama. They're not meth labs. They're not science labs, either.
These are computer forensic labs. But what does that mean?
Well, increasingly more often the journey to a jail cell involves a cell phone or a computer, something digital.
A new way to solve crime the focus of this report.
Covered with high-tech gear, one computer terminal manned by one investigator, is the new era of crime fighting.
"We are moving rapidly from a society of knives and guns to megabytes and megapixels," Alabama Computer Forensic Labs Representative Randy Hillman says. "Cyber crime will double this year alone. We are expecting a flood of these type of cases."
Look around the office, hard drives and cell phones, all evidence.
Hidden in Huntsville, this is one of only three Alabama computer forensic labs in the entire state dedicated to investigating and solving all types of cyber crimes.
The labs opened just six months ago.
Already, officials take credit for helping close 179 cases.
96 of those involve some form of child porn or predators, 17 some form of financial fraud.
But cyber investigators also helped close 13 murder cases, too, all based on digital evidence most don't know exists.
"They are able to seize that evidence and then they come back and they process it and then hand the police or the prosecutor the case," Hillman explains.
Crime fighting technology in your backyard, knowledge turning into necessity.
"The bad guys, they stay abreast of the latest technology," Madison County District Attorney Tim Morgan says. "And if we don't keep up with it, then we're one step behind always. So this is a tremendous tool."
Its a tool sprouting only in Alabama with a handful of labs and investigators with eyes peeled.
The guys with those labs continually thanked Congressman Bud Cramer and Senator Richard Shelby for the million dollars it cost to start up the labs, money they hope keeps coming so the Alabama Computer Forensic Labs can survive.