San Diego Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory Achieves International Program Accreditation
Ceremony to Recognize This Achievement Will Take Place at FBI San Diego on Tuesday, October 29, 2013
| FBI San Diego October 28, 2013 |
Daphne Hearn, Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of FBI San Diego, announces the FBI will be honoring the San Diego Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory’s (RCFL) achievement of attaining international program accreditation from the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors’ Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB). The event will be held on Tuesday, October 29, 2013, beginning at 11:15 a.m. at FBI San Diego, located at 10385 Vista Sorrento Parkway in San Diego, California, 92121.
The San Diego RCFL has served as a model for successful law enforcement cooperation since it was conceived by local law enforcement officials in the late 1990s. At that time, no single department had the technical or personnel resources to examine the growing volume of digital evidence, so 11 agencies joined forces to open the country’s first regional computer forensics laboratory. The success of this effort spawned what is now the RCFL National Program, a network of 16 digital forensic laboratories operating across the United States.
As SAC Hearn states, “The San Diego RCFL has been a pioneer in providing top-quality digital forensic services since the year 2000 when the laboratory was launched as a cooperative venture among federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. We are extremely proud of the important work that the RCFL’s 15-agency team does each and every day to fight crime."
The San Diego RCFL’s commitment to quality has been unwavering. From its beginning, the lab has followed strict quality assurance standards and attained ASCLD/LAB legacy accreditation in 2008 and is now part of an elite group of forensic laboratories with International Program accreditation.
In 2012, the San Diego RCFL completed 758 examinations involving nearly 500 terabytes of data. Examiners participated in onsite operations and testified in court 35 times. Laboratory personnel trained 533 local investigators in various digital forensic tools and techniques and the San Diego RCFL’s self-service kiosks were used more than 2,100 times by officers to examine cell phone and loose digital media.
In May 2013, the San Diego RCFL moved into the FBI San Diego’s new field office space in Sorrento Valley. The San Diego RCFL is administered by FBI Headquarters and overseen by FBI San Diego and the RCFL National Program Office. For more information about the National RCFL Program visit www.rcfl.gov or contact the National Program Office at npo@rcfl.gov or (703) 985-3677. For more information on the San Diego RCFL, visit www.sdrcfl.org or contact the RCFL at (858) 638-7400.