VIRTUAL - WRCTC Cell Phone Use in Drug Investigations

Course Description: Traditional investigative techniques and tools do not work as well as they used to. Locked devices stop most forensic tools from working. Court orders and subpoenas are no longer valid tools for criminal investigations. Companies are not storing text message content. At the same time the amount of information available on a mobile device has increased. This class will explore the methods of exploring a suspect’s cellular phone, phone company records, and third party data sources to assist investigations involving narcotics trafficking, homicide, sex crimes, gang related crimes, identify theft, and other types of criminal activity. This class will increase Law Enforcement Officers’ awareness and appreciation of the evidence and intelligence located on a mobile device and provides students with the tools and training to prepare search warrants to legally obtain that evidence. Each student will receive templates for search warrants for cellular phones, call detail records and other information, as well as contact information for cellular service providers. This course Incorporates relevant local geographic area narcotics, gang, law, crime and local influences.

Topics include:

• Updated search warrant requirements and language
• Obtaining information from social media, communications, and gaming applications
• GPS location records for Android and Apple devices
• How to deal with slow responses from cellular, social media, and online provider
• Bypass procedures for locked/password protected phones
• Where and how to recover deleted data from smart phones
• Locating stolen cell phones and investigating fencing operations
• Determining a suspect’s new number when he dropped his old phone number

Prerequisites: None

Course Length: 2 Days / 16 Hours