Updating Mobile Telephone Seizure Procedure

Updating Mobile Telephone Seizure Procedure

Every year we work on a Mobile Telephone Seizure Procedure now in its 7-th year. It originated back in 2002 with personnel from law enforcement TSUs adding their wish list as to how mobile telephones should be seized and now the Procedure has input from front line officers as well. The document itself initially started out as a check sheet but this year it is going to have a makeover and more sections with a bit of editorial added.

There will be four sections to the overall document:

- Seizure Procedure

- Examination Procedure

- Investigation Techniques

- Analysing Data

The first section that we are working on is updating and improving the Procedure chart and I wondered whether you may like to have an input on the Seizure Procedure side. Perhaps you may think we have missed something that is worthy of mentioning. Everyone who contributes is mentioned in the credits and receives a full copy of the document when its complete, free. We already have requests for the Procedure from other countries, including the US.

Why would you want to help? If you are a front line officer, when you seize a mobile telephone you are infact the first person that is looked at when evidence gets corrupted or contaminated. Think of the chain of custody.. Imagine that you seize a mobile telephone still switched ON and data that is changed points to you because beyond that point the evidence is in the exhibit bag...until it reaches the Technical Support Unit (TSU), so the theory goes. In practice it can be very different. So if awareness how to avoid corrupting or contaminating evidence is proivded free... then surely that is a good thing. This principle is how the Mobile Telephone Seizure Procedure started back in 2002.

If you are interested and a serving front line police officer send an email to trewmte@googlemail.com and the relevant seizure Procedure chart shall be emailed to you for your comments.