Digital forensics unit growth bid as police process '6.5bn pages' of data in a year

Tuesday 21 November 2023

Police are seeking more than a £1m in extra funding over the next four years to help bolster their Digital Forensics Unit – after processing the equivalent of 130,000 filing cabinets-worth of data last year.

According to Detective Superintendent Alison Fossey, the number of cases being handled by the specialist cell has increased by 140% over the past 10 years.

If States Members vote to approve the Ministers' proposed spending plans for the next four years next month, the unit will get hundreds of thousands in extra funding each year to 2027, which will help it "meet the demands of the digital age".

Such demand saw the unit process more than 100 terabytes of data in 2022 alone.

If printed, this would require 6.5 billion pages of paper and 130,000 physical filing cabinets to store it.

A report forming part of an annex to the draft Government Plan noted that two of the recent major incidents - the sinking of the L'Ecume II fishing trawler and the Haut Du Mont explosion - "brought into focus the lack of resilience and capacity within the unit".

Pictured: The maritime and Pier Road tragedies last year were said to have "brought into focus the lack of resilience and capacity" in the Digital Forensics Unit.

It continued: "Keeping up with demand, advances in technology, the required software licences, equipment, and technology comes with cost. The additional investment will allow the department to commence addressing the increasing demands on the DFU."

Speaking about the need for the funding, Det Supt Fossey told Express: "The digital society which we now all live in creates opportunities for States of Jersey Police to gather more evidence. 

"The sheer volume of devices and increased storage capacity places heightened challenges on SoJP to ensure we are making effective and efficient use of digital forensics. 

"The demand in digital crime will only continue to grow."

Pictured: The bid for funding could see the Digital Forensics Unit receive £1,151,000 in total over the next four years.

She continued: "This growth bid and associated appointments will assist in providing a progressive and sustainable digital service to the island, striving to continually meet the demands of the digital age, ensuring victim well being and bringing offenders to justice."