Article: September 2024
In this article, Dave Sampson (consultant at Altia), delves into the practices that need to be in place for investigations where the authorities must work hand-in-hand with the public to capture information and data. Drawing on his thirty years of work within Law Enforcement, Dave looks at the importance of a seamless and secure relationship between the public and the police.
Sir Robert Peel famously said, ‘The police are the public and the public are the police.’ In other words, there is a mutual trust and cooperation needed between police and society to ensure public safety.
For the public to trust the police, they must be confident in their ability to handle digital data competently. This is especially important in the current era of constant connectivity and technology advancements. We live in an ever-growing digital world, and as we move forward with our technology, so does crime, and it’s important that law enforcement stays three steps ahead.
Every police officer benefits from the skills to comprehend, interpret and gather digital data from the public. If they lack these skills, they should at least understand the available opportunities to capture and retain the data by another means.
Enabling public data submissions could be a significant breakthrough for police investigators. This capability could streamline the process and eliminate the difficulties of obtaining specific information stored on mobile phones or other digital devices. By allowing the public to upload necessary content for review, this ability would help in situations where multiple visits are required or where there is a significant public presence at an incident where evidence needs to be captured and reviewed promptly.
Altia Community serves as such a platform, providing a reliable and secure way for victims, witnesses, and partners to easily upload data from any digital device that could support a case. It can be activated immediately for any investigation, generating a link or QR code for swift sharing with public members involved in any situation. Through this portal, members of the public can directly upload any digital information and seamlessly integrate capture data into a central location within Alita Insight, aligned to the relevant investigation.
Currently, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) manage a portal that has been utilised in the investigation of serious incidents, such as the Westminster Bridge terrorist attack in March 2017 and the Liverpool murder of Olivia Pratt-Korbel in March 2023. But it is not just the high-profile cases that need a more accessible portal, Altia Community aims to bring this accessibility to all investigations. Whilst some police forces can upload data for various purposes, this varies from force to force, and the data ends up being stored in different forms and locations, not ideal for running a smooth investigation case.
Altia Community is a unique upload portal that allows you to submit all types of data for any investigation at any time. The relevant data will be attached to the corresponding investigation, within a fully secure, audited system that protects anonymity where necessary. You can confidently upload digital data for anything from a fly-tipping incident to a murder investigation, knowing that it will be directed to the appropriate individual for effective
Dave Sampson
Dave is a Consultant to Altia and an Associate Lecturer at Northumbria University as well as a specialist in delivering a due diligence service to several international companies through the analysis, capture and evaluation of open-source information to allow them to make informed threat intelligence assessments of relevant third parties.
This follows a 30-year service in Law Enforcement where he acted as a single point of contact for all matters Digital, Open source and Financial. He has developed analytical products to create a modular intelligence suite to address all law enforcement requirements for a complete end-to-end digital investigation both privately and publicly.
