The background
Protecting residents since 1937, Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) is a police agency covering 77,000 square miles with 400 sworn officers serving a population of more than 1.9 million. NSP’s Special Operations Division, The Nebraska State Patrol Technical Crimes Unit, provides full computer and cell phone examination services for all state, local and federal agencies for free.
Tasked with investigations covering serious offences including Indecent Images of Children (ICAC), human trafficking and terrorism, and faced with the growing mass of digital devices and resource limitations, the team needed to implement a digital forensics solution that could simplify processes and extend their capabilities.
Increasing the speed in which data is extracted and analysed, swiftly generating reports that are widely accepted by courts, supporting multi-platform setups and being efficient and cost-effective to run, were all part of the key requirements put forward by the team.
The SOLUTION
After evaluating the solutions in the market and getting a first-hand experience of Detego’s capabilities through a detailed demo, the Nebraska State Police chose Detego’s Unified Digital Forensics Platform. Its ability to deliver rapid data extraction and analysis with greater accuracy, coupled with the inclusion of validated processes and ease-of-use, were clear differentiators.
The RESULT
The training and onboarding support provided by Detego helped the team master Detego’s technology in a short time. And thanks to the solution’s intuitive design and simplicity, team members were able to carry out forensically sound investigations with minimal technical knowledge and training.
By tapping into Detego’s automation capabilities, teams were able to automate time consuming imaging and processing workflows. This helped the team increase the rate in which evidence is processed by nearly 70%. Detego’s solution also enabled the team to gain access to a wider range of devices, including 1,000s of new mobiles, apps and platforms.
Prior to the introduction of Detego’s Unified Digital Forensics Platform, the team were nearly 7 months behind mobile investigations and had a near 2 year backlog on computer data investigations.
Detego technology has enabled them to deliver crucial evidence to case officers in a matter of weeks and not months, and since implementing the solution, the team has been able to keep investigation lead times under 30 days.
“Like any other Law Enforcement Agency, we were falling behind and failing in overwhelming backlogs. We were able to leverage the speed, ease-of-use and capabilities that Detego has to reimagine and refine our process to become successful and increase our services. Detego increased our efficiency, provided a multiplatform solution and saved our agency tens of thousands of dollars in manpower, licenses and equipment.”
– Sgt. Scott Haugaard, Special Operations, Nebraska State Patrol