October 15, 2018 - The Office of Justice Programs (OJP) has recently awarded several million dollars to departments across the country in support of forensic activities under the Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grant Program.
The Fort Wayne Police Department’s awarded grant will allow for the strategic implementation of improving timeliness and quality of digital forensic services, reducing backlog of evidence by 64.5% in mobile examinations, 58.93% in computer examinations, and 88.27% in video examinations.
The dedicated staff includes three detectives, (two additional detectives to be added in the near future), who have a combined law enforcement experience of 57 years, several of which have been served in our Forensic Laboratory. They are responsible for examining all digital multimedia evidence items for the FWPD, Federal agencies, and other agencies in eleven northeast Indiana counties.
“I continue to be encouraged by the proactive efforts of the Fort Wayne Police Department,” said Mayor Tom Henry. “Being recognized by the federal government to receive this grant will enhance our public safety capabilities and provide additional opportunities for us to make a lasting and meaningful impact to help ensure Fort Wayne is the safest city possible.”
“The Fort Wayne Police Department continues to demonstrate an understanding of the importance of digital evidence and will continue to invest in the training and certification of our detectives and a Counterdrug Intelligence Analyst in the extraction of memory from mobile devices through UFED Cellebrite,” said Chief Steve Reed. Universal Forensic Extraction Device, UFED has the ability to extract both physical and logical data from mobile devices such as cellular phones and other hand-held mobile device. It will aid the digital forensic laboratory with the examination of digital multimedia evidence in narcotics cases and use software and training to combat the opioid abuse crisis with grant funds.