Magnet Forensics is awarding scholarships to four investigators to help them and their agencies expand their knowledge and make advancements in their use of digital forensics. Each recipient is receiving Magnet Forensics’ digital investigation software, Magnet AXIOM, training led by highly experienced digital forensic examiners and the opportunity to be certified.
One recipient, Shandra Hawes, of the Westfield Police Department, has been working with law enforcement for six years. “I previously worked for Indianapolis-Marion County Forensic Services Agency for five years and have been with the Westfield Police Department for one year,” she said. Hawes has been involved with crime scene investigations for her entire career and also began managing the property room when she arrived in Westfield.
Hawes said she wanted to become involved in digital forensic investigations because she has seen how important digital evidence is to a case. “Sometimes, cell phone data may be the only evidence we have to work with and I was intrigued with just how much information a cell phone or computer can actually reveal about a crime,” said Hawes. “This made me realize that expanding my knowledge on this topic would not only be helpful to the department but for my professional career as well.”
The scholarship from Magnet Forensics will allow more doors of opportunity to open for the investigator. “Digital evidence is more often than not involved in every case that we investigate,” said Hawes. “Magnet Forensics is opening the door for me so that I can be trained in how to correctly preserve, process and analyze digital evidence.” Hawes says her scholarship will help to advance the Westfield Police Department, which currently outsources its digital investigations to an outside agency. This has caused delays for the Westfield Police Department and impacted the agency’s ability to investigate crimes with digital elements in a timely fashion. “With Magnet AXIOM and the proper training, I’ll be able to help the Westfield Police Department take this work in-house for the first time and aid detectives, officers and prosecutors in building stronger cases with digital evidence in a shorter time period.”
Magnet Forensics is a digital investigation software development company whose products acquire, analyze and report on evidence from computers, mobile phones, IoT devices and cloud sources. The company’s software is used by more than 4,000 entities in over 90 countries.
Applications for the 2021 Magnet Forensics Scholarships Awards are now open. Investigators can submit their applications including a resume, cover letter and reference letter from a supervisor to [email protected] before October 31, 2021 for consideration.
