b'Unfortunately, police services have to make difficultand regularly re-trained on the tool, creating new costs trade-offstomanagethisreality.Someagenciesareand risks. prioritizingmajorcrime-relateddigitalevidence.OtherSimilarly, WRPS believed there was a need to equip agencies may not collect digital evidence in the field fromfront-lineofficersandinvestigatorswithasimpletool certain types of calls for service, such as cyberbullyingto collect rudimentary digital evidence in the field. The and domestic disputes. Backlogs that result in delays topurpose is to reduce tasks in the digital forensics lab and investigations, as well as cases that dont get access tothe costs associated with overtime. However, they do not digital forensics labs, can create public trust issues forhave the capacity to develop such a tool in-house and police services.Front-line officers who may not be ablethe cost of outsourcing to a software-as-a-service vendor to address the concerns of citizens may create an erosionwould be prohibitive.of confidence. There is also a greater risk in Canada, given the Supreme Courts Jordan ruling, prescribing the allow- Giventhecloseproximity,familiaritybetweenthe able time for criminal trials to conclude. Justice in casesorganizations and a shared mission, WRPS and Magnet with complex investigations are, and will continue to be,Forensics negotiated a principles-based Memorandum of at risk should digital forensics labs maintain their currentUnderstanding (MOU) to enable collaboration. This part-trajectory.Theseissueshavebeenaregulartopicofnership gives Magnet Forensics an understanding of such discussion in two boardrooms that are located just a fewthingsastheoperatingenvironment,trainingrequire-kilometres apartthe Waterloo Regional Police Servicements, fiscal pressures and legal obligations that WRPS, (WRPS) and Magnet Forensics. and other similar police agencies, operate under. In turn, Digital Evidence Realities Magnet Forensics is committed to utilizing its resources to develop tools that address these broad challenges and The WRPS has not been immune to the digital evidencebusiness models that are both sustainable for them and realities. Given that the agency serves one of Canadasthat contains police services long-term costs.most innovative communitieswith leading universities,Tackling the global digital evidence tsunami is an auda-colleges and technology-intensive businessesits leader- cious goal. Many ideas emerged as potential opportunities ship believes it must be at the forefront of addressingfor collaboration. However, both sides agreed to channel the digital evidence challenge, among other digital trans- the approach espoused by U.S. Army General Creighton formations of policing.Magnet Forensics is similarly tackling the digital evi-dence challenge in a global context. Their founder and Chief Technology Officer Jad Saliba was a constable with WRPSwhenaserendipitouslifeeventlandedhimon the high-tech crimes team a decade ago. In that role, he developed software to acquire and analyze evidence from emerging Internet evidence sources. He made the difficult decision to leave policing and focus on developing digital forensics tools full time.The company has since grown to include more than 275professionalswhofocusonleveragingthemost modern technologies, such as artificial intelligence and automation, to help police agencies get to critical digital evidence in a timely manner. Their software tools are used by more than 5,000 police, national security and other agencies, with investigative authorities in 94 countries.Both organizations have a clear mandate to tackle the digital evidence tsunami. However, in isolation, the like-lihood of creating and sustaining a viable solution is low. As an example, among the Magnet Forensics technology roadmap has been a tool to enable front-line personnel to collect certain types of digital evidence from smart-phones in the field. In its initial prototyping, the tool was a scaled down version of existing digital forensics tools. After introducing the concept to a number of agencies, it was clear that this solution wouldnt work, as the tool was too technical and would require officers to be trainedThe Official Publication of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police7'