National Program Office

An RCFL is a one stop, full service forensics laboratory and training center devoted entirely to the examination of digital evidence in support of criminal investigations such as— Terrorism Child Pornography Crimes of Violence Trade secret theft Theft or destruction to intellectual property Financial crime Property crime Internet crimes Fraud.

In 2002, the FBI established the RCFL National Program Office (NPO) to oversee the operations of the RCFLs, and to facilitate the creation of new facilities. Additionally, the NPO supports the laboratories by —

  • Providing technical assistance to ensure consistent quality management of each laboratory
  • Institutionalizing the policies, practices, and legal processes regarding the establishment and governance of RCFLs
  • Cultivating working relationships between law enforcement, the private sector, academia, and other government agencies by serving as a national clearinghouse for the exchange and dissemination of information among these entities
  • Serving as an advocate for the Program before key constituent groups
  • Working with the FBI and other government agencies to develop new digital evidence forensics tools
  • Developing training curricula for digital evidence Examiners and law enforcement officers
  • Coordinating and communicating training initiatives and tool development efforts for use by the law enforcement community.

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Cell Phone Investigative Kiosk (CPIK)/Loose Media Kiosk (LMK)

The CPIK is a compilation of hardware and software designed for extracting data from cell phones. Investigators can extract data such as contacts, call logs, and messages from a variety of makes and models of phones in a forensically sound manner. The extracted data is parsed in a user-friendly format and burned onto optical media for future reference.

Similar to the CPIK, the LMK is used to preview, triage, copy and extract data from loose media such as an optical media, USB devices, hard drives and compact flash cards.

The kiosks are forensic tools used to process cell phones and loose media quickly, and the output is admissible in court.

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