Cellphones. How important are they in our society? Everywhere we look people are on their phones. Entire families sit in restaurants and stare down at their phones, not interacting with one another, playing games or texting friends. People cross the street staring down at their screens, oblivious to the traffic around them. Just think how much life has changed since the advent of the cellphone.

One important way is how law enforcement uses phones to solve crimes. Cellphones have become a necessary and important part of crime investigations. They contain valuable forensic information that allows law enforcement to reach certain conclusions. On the flip side, cellphone data can help clear innocent people of crimes, and help narrow down suspects.

One of the apps on people’s phone is called Life360. Here is the description of Life360 on the App page. “Elevate safety for family and friends with Life360, the trusted family safety location-sharing app with over 50 million members worldwide. Our comprehensive app simplifies safety, offering Real-Time Location Sharing, Crash Detection, SOS Alerts, Roadside Assistance, Identity Theft Protection, and so much more. Stay connected with your loved ones effortlessly and track valuable belongings seamlessly at home, on the road, and on the go.”

This app is extremely valuable to law enforcement when conducting an investigation. Assuming they get a search warrant for the person’s phone, law enforcement can track an individual’s movements and see if they were at the crime scene at the time of the crime. In the Alex Murdaugh trial, the police used time logs to pinpoint the time of the murder. In the case against Karen Read, which ended in a mistrial, the victims health data showed him to have walked up a flight of stairs and into the house, despite the prosecution saying he’d never entered the house. Another key point came when a witness claimed to have seen Karen Read’s car in front of the house at 12:35 a.m. The only problem with this testimony is that Karen had connected her phone to her boyfriend’s WiFi at 12:36 a.m. and that was six minutes away.

Forensic experts can now track call data and see when calls where made and if they were answered and deleted. They are also able to see what was typed in text messages. The most common forensic software used by law enforcement is call Cellebrite. “Cellebrite is an Israeli digital intelligence company that provides tools for federal, state, and local law enforcement as well as enterprise companies and service providers to collect, review, analyze and manage digital data.” Cellebrite is one of the most important tools for police and prosecutors as far as finding the true culprit.

Forensic phone data is an important tool for both law enforcement and for finding the truth of a criminal matter. For criminals the advice is simple: if you’re going to commit a crime, leave your phone at home.