LEESBURG, Fla. – The Leesburg Police Department is one-upping crooks who try to wipe the contents of a cell phone remotely after a crime.
You probably know you can factory reset your phone over the internet if you lose it, and that means criminals can, too.
Leesburg Police realized even after they confiscate a digital device they’re still at risk of losing the valuable digital evidence on that device unless they can protect it.
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So now, using RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) blocking bags and cabinets, they are.
Leesburg PD Captain Scott Mack, former criminal investigations division commander, gave News 6 a demo.
He said the challenge after a device is confiscated is to keep the information on the device secure and keep the device powered on.
So immediately at a crime scene officers will place devices in the metallically-lined bags.
“So not through Wi-Fi, not through Bluetooth, not through cellular or anything like that would prevent that phone from being able to receive anything like communication or anyone to access it,” Mack said. “The signals cannot get through the bag or come out of the bag.”
As a test, we called Mack’s cell phone once it was placed into the bag. It did not ring.
“It’s been completely removed from any network,” Mack said.
Why is it so important to keep the phone or tablet powered on?
“We want to keep the phone on and charged because a number of things can happen when a phone powers down when it loses a charge,” Mack said. “Just the process of shutting it down and repowering it can create a situation where some evidence is lost. Clearing the cache for example.”
Sometimes phones or tablets will install an update after they are powered back on, potentially clearing out precious data.
Both the inside of the RFID-blocking bag and outside have USB ports. The phone inside the bag is plugged into the port and then the outside port is plugged into an outlet inside the locked cabinet.
The phone will then continue to charge while securely stored inside the bag inside the cabinet until digital forensics experts are ready to analyze it.
Capt. Mack said suspects routinely try to wipe their phones or tablets or computers before or after their arrest, remotely, if they can.
Last year, when 13-year-old Madeline Soto disappeared and was later found dead in Osceola County, her mother’s boyfriend was arrested and, according to court records, investigators believed the boyfriend tried to erase his phone data to hide the evidence he was abusing the little girl for years.
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