New Wireless Sensory Technology Assist Crime Fighters
By Space Coast Daily // July 27, 2013
BREVARD COUNTY • PALM BAY, FLORIDA – A year long, public-private partnership among the Palm Bay Police Department, the U.S. Secret Service, FBI CAST (Cellular Analysis Survey Team) and Melbourne, Florida based Gladiator Forensics has yielded a new investigative tool that can help solve crimes using wireless sensory technology.
Gladiator’s Enterprise Sensor Processing and Analytics (ESPA) solution is a cloud based software solution that has the ability to analyze wireless data mobile devices, tower data, and telephone company call records and translates the data into usable investigative information in a matter of minutes.
This allows detectives who once invested countless hours capturing, analyzing and understanding wireless data to have results more easily and more efficiently.
The program was developed with the idea of using available technology and applying it to criminal investigations.
“This platform allows us to follow critical leads that, in many cases place a suspect at the scene of a crime,” said Detective Greg Guillette who handles digital forensic investigations for the Palm Bay Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division.
Guillette was trained at the National Computer Forensics Institute in Hoover, Alabama through the U.S. Secret Service.
“We’ve already used the technology to solve some major cases here, including a homicide.” Guillette points to the recent conviction of Jason Williams (DOB 03/13/1982) as an example of ESPA’s ability to help solve crime.
Williams was convicted for the 2011 murder of Wayne McIntosh, (09/23/1961). Williams stabbed the victim repeatedly and fled the scene. Detective Guillette input the victim’s cell phone information into the ESPA platform and the results put the suspect at the scene of the crime and also allowed detectives to track his movements all the way to Miami where he was later arrested by the U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force.
“It’s a way of putting all the pieces together very quickly,” Guillette added. “It also allowed us to paint a very clear picture for the jury.
We presented the information in a way they could understand it and visually see the suspect’s locations and movements plotted out on a map. It made our case a ‘slam dunk’”.
“This platform allows us to follow critical leads that, in many cases place a suspect at the scene of a crime,” said Detective Greg Guillette who handles digital forensic investigations for the Palm Bay Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division.
The Criminal Investigations Division also used the program to solve a series of burglaries at cell phone retail stores involving an organized ring of suspects.
In this case ESPA was used to link the ringleader to multiple crime scenes throughout Central Florida including Palm Bay. “We are moving light years ahead in our ability to solve crime with the use of this type of innovative technology,” said Chief Doug Muldoon.
“These partnerships are absolutely essential in our ability to have success both now and into the future.”
MORE ABOUT ESPA
ESPA is a secure, cloud-based digital forensic analytical program that is available for detectives through the simple use of a secure web browser.
Gladiator Forensics spent the last three years getting input from law enforcement in the development of the software. The program will be unveiled at the annual conference of the FBI National Academy Associates (FBINAA) in Orlando next week.
“The uniqueness of this program is that it was developed by law enforcement for law enforcement,” said Kamran Kashi, CEO and founder of Gladiator Forensics.
“We had the technology and Palm Bay gave us the knowledge and experience for the application. It was a matter of putting the technology and methodology together to create an effective crime solving tool.”
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