Police departments prepare for new computer forensics lab

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Posted: Wed 8:21 PM, Jun 27, 2012

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Reporter: Kevin Hurd

Updated: Wed 10:43 PM, Jun 27, 2012

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Police departments prepare for new computer forensics lab

"The number one priority for us is response to crime, and children for us is right on top," said Eau Claire County Sheriff Ron Cramer.

He is pleased that soon his department, along with the Eau Claire and Altoona Police Departments, will be able to pool their resources, helping to fight back at crimes like child pornography possession.

"We really need those computer experts to go in forensically and extract information with the use of a search warrant and use that in a prosecution case," Cramer said.

All three departments will have trained officers that spend time working in what is to be the Chippewa Valley Regional Computer Forensics Lab, set go into full operation after the jail project is done.

"They can do it right now based on the software they've been trained with, they know how to get to a person's hardware in their computer and capture some of these images they believe the person has deleted," Cramer said.

Detective Paul Becker is one of those officers who works full-time on these types of cases. He says it is not always a matter of investigating undercover, but using tips from places like repair centers and tools already available to the public. And the key ingredient, time and people.

"There's a lot of tools, a lot of technology available, it's just really having the bodies, the manpower and the time to facilitate these investigations to end," Becker said.

And while more time and people could lead to more arrests, Becker says there is a bigger picture behind the lab.

"The overall goal for everybody is whether we can identify a child that has been victimized within this matter," Becker added.

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