Police Digital Forensics Lab and Device Examination Policy

At a glance

• What: The Police Department's digital forensics lab, its policy for examining phones and other devices, and the annual payment on its extraction software contract.
• Where it stands: Briefed at the November 3 committee meeting, with a policy update and the contract payment before members.
• Next: Confirm the contract payment vote and the planned public report and accreditation steps from later meeting pages.

Sources

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF-fc8_8quI

Log

2026-11-03 - Public Safety and Health Committee

• A department technology director described the lab's practice of examining devices only under a warrant or consent from a victim or witness, giving detectives only what the warrant covers, and a stricter policy being adopted. Members asked about vendor access, retention, the June 11 protest phones (held by a federal agency) and state regulation. The contract payment exceeds a typical year because of a vendor platform change (figures garbled in the captions).