RCFL: Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory

[Posted on Mon, February 23 2004]

'CSI' in Jersey: FBI to build high-tech lab
Source: New Jersey Star Ledger

Written by Jonathon Schuppe
February 20, 2004

Federal and state authorities yesterday announced plans to create a state-of-the-art digital forensics lab in Hamilton, one of nine FBI-sponsored sites nationally where detectives will extract electronic evidence from hard drives, cell phones, digital cameras, Palm Pilots and other high-tech gear that have become everyday tools for the modern criminal.

The Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory, housed off Route 130 in the State Police Technology Complex, will include 20 agents from the FBI, State Police, state Division of Criminal Justice and county prosecutors' offices. When fully furnished in September, the New Jersey lab will join other RCFL sites in San Diego, Dallas, Kansas City, Chicago, Buffalo, Houston, Portland and Salt Lake City.

The FBI, working from a national RCFL budget of $14 million, will outfit each of the New Jersey forensic examiners with $25,000 in cyber-sleuthing equipment, provide another $10,000 in training, and invest $1 million a year to update the lab's hardware.

Authorities say the money is necessary for law enforcement agencies to keep up with the exploding number of crimes involving digital evidence.

"The RCFL program is one of the premier computer forensic lab networks in the country," said Louis Allen, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Newark division. "The FBI views the computer forensics lab as our most powerful tool for addressing 21st-century crime."

State Attorney General Peter Harvey called the lab "a monumental step" for state crime fighters. The 260,000-square-foot Technology Complex already houses one of 11 FBI-designated mitochondrial DNA labs, he said. "This is the cutting edge, and we are happy the FBI has come to partner with us to make it a reality."

From street thug to identity thief to computer hacker, virtually every kind of criminal now uses some sort of digital device, law enforcement officials say. High-tech detectives have found stickup notes in bank robbers' home computers, linked drug traffickers through data in dealers' cell phones, and connected murderers to their victims via incriminating e- mails.

"Those little electronic boxes hold roomfuls of evidence," said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra.

The RCFL program was born in San Diego, where high-tech crime investigators from many agencies used federal grants to pool resources and standardize their evidence-gathering methods, said La Mesa police Sgt. Rusty Sargent. From there, the program has grown to give agencies large and small the resources to crack high- tech cases.

"Criminals are just like everyone else -- they all have computers and they use them for all types of things," said Sargent, the San Diego lab's operations manager. "People are so used to keeping information and notes on computers -- we've solved homicides by finding to-do lists."

In New Jersey, the FBI, State Police and Division of Criminal Justice all have high-tech crime units, where detectives go for help pulling out useful data from computer equipment. But some of these forensic examinations can take several months to complete.

With everyone under one roof sharing ideas and resources, no request should take longer than 30 days, authorities said.

"This is an incredible opportunity for everyone, because we're coming from all areas of law enforcement," said one of the State Police's RCFL detectives, Trooper David Costantino. "It's going to streamline the process greatly."

Jonathan Schuppe covers criminal justice. He can be reached at jschuppe@starledger.com or (609) 989-0398.

[ Original Article on the NJ Star Ledger site ]

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