For Immediate Release
November 14, 2000

Washington D.C.
FBI National Press Office

As part of an ongoing effort to combat the escalation of computer-related crimes, FBI Director Louis J. Freeh today officially announced the opening of the first multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional entity responsible for acquiring, archiving, and analyzing digital evidence in support of criminal investigations.

The Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory (RCFL) opens today in San Diego, California and will serve as the prototype for new regional laboratories being established across the country.

FBI Director Freeh said, "The role of the computer forensics examiner will become increasingly more important as criminals continue to exploit emerging computer technology. As we have found on the national level, joining forces with other federal, state and local agencies produces higher levels of service in the full range of cases where computers are either used to facilitate crimes or the computer itself is the target of a criminal act."

This RCFL consists of 17 computer forensic examiners from federal, state and local law enforcement agencies serving all law enforcement requests within San Diego and Imperial Counties.

The laboratory is organized into three main functions: imaging,analysis, and research and development. Examiners will rotate between these assignments, allowing each to develop a variety of skills.

All RCFL examiners are tasked with the responsibilities of quality control and training. As the volume and complexity of computer evidence submissions grow, the laboratory's flexible structure will allow it to adapt and seek whatever additional training, equipment, or other resources are needed to complete all the examinations.

San Diego Sheriff Bill Kolender stated "Computer crimes have become the crimes of this century. We are experiencing a large increase in the number of people who are victims of fraud, identity theft and other offenses. We in the Sheriff's Department are very pleased to be a part of this Task Force under the great leadership of Bill Gore."

San Diego Police Chief David Bejarano stated "Because of the explosion of high technology and associated crimes, the San Diego Police Department is excited about participating in the multi-agency Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory. This ensures that we will have highly-trained examiners - using state of the art technology and investigative techniques- to support federal, state and local investigations and prosecutions."

FBI Director Freeh added, "With the establishment of the RCFL, we now have an environment where the counties' best trained computer forensic examiners, functioning as one team, can utilize state of the art facilities to perform complex examinations.

Today's opening represents another big step in the FBI's nationwide effort to make available the computer forensics support and expertise critical to investigations by our colleagues that involve digital evidence."

The current contingent of RCFL personnel consists of members from the following agencies:

California Highway Patrol
Chula Vista Police Department
Defense Criminal Investigative Service
Drug Enforcement Administration
El Cajon Police Department
Escondido Police Department
Federal Bureau of Investigation
La Mesa Police Department
Naval Criminal Investigative Service
San Diego County Sheriff's Office
San Diego District Attorney's Office
San Diego Police Department
U.S. Customs Service