Federal Bureau of Investigation

Modern evidence collection through connected devices

OVERVIEW

Veteran agents have seen technology progress from flip phones to smartphones, yet investigative activities continue to be manually intensive, largely paper based, and ultimately tethered to a desktop computer back at the office. Current conventions can not meet the demands of the next generation of agents nor rapid needs to collect information.

To make the agents’ lives easier and increase the speed at which the FBI gets work done, a secure solution to take and present case data was needed. With 50 cases at a time and roughly 5 per agent, FBI’s Evidence Response Team required an intuitive, automated mobile solution to enable effective data collection and transmission of information through connected devices.

Of course, there’s bureaucracy in the bureau. Our team had to drive this solution across multiple decision makers and branch executives within IT, Science & Technology, and Field Agents.
 

DESIGN

The Evidence Response Team must photograph scenes, tag objects, and initiate forms that work effectively in the field, as well as integrate securely to a back-end case management system. The solution provides comprehensive investigative activities with mobile forms-based workflows, allowing simplified evidence collection and field collaboration. Secure forms are streamlined for easy discovery and provide consistent information across devices and teams from collection and through the chain of custody. 

Features of the mobile application had to account for the extensive techniques used during digital and physical evidence collection. Working with special agents, opportunities were defined across collaboration, metadata capture, form discovery, documentation, approvals, and security. 

In an environment where every second matters, the smallest productivity improvements truly save lives.

Saving time means seamlessly managing data across open and closed networks without retyping a password. It’s simplified document discovery, presenting the most relevant information and procedures. Saving time requires dynamic behaviors and pre-filled data propagation across forms throughout the case—which are tagged automatically for a smarter search. 
 

Efficient mobile features allow agents to quickly share and ascertain data of crime scene events. Each case file entry automatically contains pertinent information such as unique identifiers, agent name, timestamp, geolocation, appendices, and contextual tracking—all required to build and maintain the integrity of the case.

For each witness statement, agents must take a photo, record statements, transcribe notes, and gain approval before any information is permitted into the case file. Rather than cumbersome equipment, a single, secure mobile device manages this workflow using the native camera, dictation, translation services, structured and unstructured forms via Experience Manager, and e-signatures and workflows of Document Cloud.
 

OUTCOME

The future vision provided a solid foundation for the FBI that revolutionizes their digital transformation. Improved data collection and collaborative features exponentially increase the speed and efficacy of daily agent activities.

After the initial findings, the FBI was excited to extend the vision to include conceptual development of artificial intelligence for photo & video manipulation. Additionally, the door opened for anomaly detection and correlation across similar cases with machine learning. More so, the FBI expanded conversation to augmented & virtual reality for field activities and scene recreation.

Oh, and the drones.
They want the drones.

RESPONSIBILITY

+  Lead & Manage Experience Teams
+  Ethnographic & Primary Research
+  Visioning & Opportunity Analysis
+  Journey Mapping & Prototype

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