News of the Nature Coast of Florida

Gail A. Tierney
CCSO Public Information Officer

Specialized equipment that combines robotics, software and printers into a complete digital publishing process is ready to put the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office Internet Crimes Against Children Unit on the cutting edge of forensic analysis as it relates to sex crimes involving juveniles.

ICAC detectives would be the first ones to say how labor-intensive their work is when it comes to building a solid case against, say, someone facing charges of possession of child pornography.

Once a search warrant is secured and served, it’s not uncommon to seize hundreds of CDs and DVDs and enter them into evidence.  With that comes the painstaking, time-consuming process of reviewing and cataloging each one.

Monies from the annual Edward Byrne technology grant awarded to “Citrus County and the cities of Inverness and Crystal River for countywide law enforcement" in 2009 provided the Sheriff’s Office with the $11,000 purchase-price of the specialized equipment produced by Rimage Corporation, the industry-leading provider of on-demand digital CD/DVD/Blu-ray Disc publishing systems based in Minneapolis.

The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG), funded by the U.S. Department of Justice and administered by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), allows local governments to support a broad range of activities to prevent and control crime and to improve the criminal justice system.

Detectives can load up to 100 discs in the equipment, say, overnight, and the forensics software will automatically identify and catalog the contents of each one.  What’s more, an in-depth report of the findings will be produced.

From a time-saving standpoint, the equipment is invaluable.  It also will afford ICAC detectives the time to work on other projects, hence, saving costs, as well.

Beyond analyzing optical media forensically and optimizing the user’s ability to retrieve evidence, this specialized equipment is a boon for the expeditious prosecution of child pornography cases.  It can take digital photos of completed CDs/DVDs and label them for easy retrieval in trial preparation.  The Rimage equipment also can assist with displaying evidence to a jury.
“The machine produces a forensic report that’s more robust, more detailed than anything I was expecting,” said ICAC Detective Chris Cornell.

“Not only does it analyze the content of the disc, it also analyzes the disc itself, revealing such things as when it was made,” he added.

According to Cornell, the Rimage equipment is capable of reading evidence in any format, even if a disc is scratched or cracked.

“We now have the power of automation to help us locate evidence embedded in CDs and DVDs that may have been missed in the past using conventional methods,” the detective explained.

The CCSO becomes the fifth law enforcement agency in Florida to use this machine with the forensics enhancement.  Among the others are the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Tampa and the Florida Attorney General’s office in Orlando.

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