Alabama AG wants expanded role for Troy forensics lab

TROY — Alabama Attorney General Troy King wants to expand the crimefighting work being done at the Troy University Computer Forensics Lab to include more training for local law enforcement regarding electronic evidence.

King toured the lab Monday and discussed the benefits it is providing for law enforcement and prosecutors.

“All the people in Alabama who watch CSI can rest assured that their state is on the cutting edge of technology,” he said. “Very rarely do we solve a crime in an hour, but we remain determined to doing so as quickly as
possible.”

The lab was expanded last year thanks to a $463,000 grant from the federal government. Jack Hawkins, Troy University chancellor, said the expansion allowed the lab to offer law enforcement more assistance with training concerning the handling of electronic devices, promoting awareness of computer crime and providing research and lab services for electronic evidence analysis.

Greg Price, chief technology officer, said more than 300 pieces of evidence have been processed by the lab this year for law enforcement agencies. King said the lab is helping his office with six cases, four of which involve pornography and minors.

King said cracking down on Internet predators and child pornographers is a major goal for the attorney general’s office. King’s office is currently prosecuting a
311-count child pornography case, one of the largest child porn cases in Alabama history.

The lab offers state of the art equipment for examining digital evidence, processing of multiple electronic media formats, various training programs and a photo and video enhancement lab.

King and university officials hope the next step for the lab is providing increased training for local law enforcement agencies regarding the proper handling of electronic evidence.

Greg said just turning a piece of electronic evidence on or off can be a big mistake for law enforcement officers. Greg said police should treat electronic evidence with the same care that they treat bodies or other crime scene evidence.

“If powered on or turned off, we advocate leaving it alone,” he said.