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I met Mike Swindells through Shafik Punja and it was Shafik who had the capital idea of doing an AFoD blog interview with Mike so that AFoD readers could get an idea of what it's like for someone from a non-technical law enforcement background to takeover leadership of a digital forensics team. My career puts me into contact with many law enforcement leaders who find themselves in similar positions where they decided to take a risk with their careers and do something very difficult, but very rewarding. Many of these units focus exclusively or in part with combatting child exploitation and human trafficking so they make tremendous and life-altering differences in the lives of victims by identifying and rescuing them from further abuse. I have an immense amount of respect for people like Mike who decide to take the path less traveled in their law enforcement careers and to do something as difficult as conducting, supporting, or leading these investigations.
Mike Swindell's Professional (Auto)biography
I’m currently a Sergeant with the Calgary Police Service and since December 2017 I have been the supervisor of our Digital Forensics Team. I have a little over 16 years experience with the CPS and have worked a combined 11 years in a front line patrol capacity both as a Constable responding to calls for service and as a Sergeant supervising various teams. I spent 5 years working in an undercover surveillance unit where most of our targets belonged to organized crime groups, were homicide suspects or responsible for other violent crimes.
1. How did you get involved in law enforcement?
I originally worked as a Paramedic for 3 years close to
Toronto prior to moving to Calgary in the summer of 2000. When I got to
Calgary I had trouble finding a job in EMS so I started looking into the other
emergency services for work. After attending some information sessions
hosted by the Calgary Police Service I was interested enough to apply.
Fortunately for me, my previous work and life experience was a great
asset and I was hired by the CPS and started recruit class in November 2001.
My initial interest in joining the CPS was to have the ability to help people
and make their lives better. I really had no idea where my policing
career would take me but over the past 16 years I’ve been lucky enough to work
in a variety of different areas exposing me to many different sides of
policing.
2. How did your law enforcement career develop once you
joined the Calgary Police Service?
From talking with colleagues and friends over the years I
think my experience and career development has been very similar to other
police officers. I left recruit classes full of confidence and knowledge
of what I had learned and hoped to apply my new skills in real life
scenarios. However I quickly learned that classroom policing is much
different than policing in the real world! The first team I joined had a
very experienced group of officers and a Sgt with over 30 years of
policing. I would say my first officer coach was very intense, had high
expectations of any recruit and was very good at her job. I learned a lot
from my first officer coaches and was exposed to many different
scenarios. I quickly learned that I enjoyed being what I refer to as a
‘calls for service’ police officer. I liked attending calls, dealing with
them at the time and moving on to the next call. I think with most police
officers you become very proficient and capable of attending any type of call
within your first 3-5 years of policing. I enjoyed working in a front
line patrol capacity, but as I got more experience and exposure to the different
units we have I began thinking of what I wanted to do next.
So after spending the first 6 years of my career as a
front line patrol officer working in 2 different Districts I applied to work in
an undercover surveillance unit. At the time, it was the only dedicated
surveillance unit in the service and it was highly sought after and very well
respected within the CPS. Lucky for me, I applied and was successful and
began a new chapter in my career. In order to work in surveillance I had
to pass a very intense 3 week surveillance course which was very challenging
but fun at the same time. I spent a little over 5 years working in
surveillance and I had some fantastic experiences and learned a whole new
skillset. When new members joined our team I began to enjoy mentoring and
helping them become proficient at surveillance. I also had the
opportunity to fill in for my supervisor in an Acting Sgt capacity, something I
really enjoyed doing. The extra responsibility of running a team, dealing
with any issues that would come up was challenging but rewarding at the same
time. Eventually I decided that applying for promotion to the rank of Sgt
was what I wanted to do. I enjoyed supervising people and was at a point
in my career where I wanted a new challenge and opportunity.
Unfortunately the first time I applied for promotion I was unsuccessful but I
didn’t let that stop me from continuing my personal growth and
development. I returned to patrol and was promoted 18 months later and
began supervising front line patrol members. One of the best things
about our job is that constant opportunity to try new things and work in
different areas. So after almost 4 years of being a front line patrol
supervisor I began looking at where my career would take me next. Enter
the wonderful world of Digital Forensics! I had heard rumours that a Sgt
position within our Cyber/Forensics Unit was going to become available so I
reached out to former colleagues and friends who currently worked in that
area. Not knowing a thing about Digital Forensics I began asking
questions and visited our lab a few times. Still, with very little
knowledge I applied and got the job, which is where I find myself now.
The past few months have been very challenging at times however when it comes
right down to it, I still supervise people and manage calls. I don’t need
to know how the guys do what they do, I just need to know what they are capable
of doing. And I must give credit to the group of police officers that I
supervise now, they have all been excellent and patient when explaining things
to me and when I ask ‘simple’ questions about forensics!
3. So you’ve entered this wild and wonderful world of
digital forensics. As you have settled into your new role leading a
digital forensics team, what are some of the things that surprised you about
the digital forensics world?
I think the biggest surprise was how much information and
data is actually contained within digital devices and how much critical
evidence can be found. Coming in to this world I thought it would all be
about recovering deleted texts, emails and call logs from devices by simply
plugging them in to a computer. Not so simple as it turns out and so much
more information can be found. Not being exposed to digital forensics before
I never really thought about how much data can be found on devices.
Next was the cost of running a digital forensics
lab. Software renewals and equipment are not cheap, and when certain
companies are the only ones who can provide their service they can set their
price wherever the like. We all know that technology is always evolving
and becoming better so new tools, software and training are required to keep up
with change. Courses are also so expensive! When our members have
completed their ‘basic’ courses at the Canadian Police College and are looking
at maintaining and increasing their skillset we (in Canada) generally have to
send our members to courses in the US. Factor in the cost of travel, the
exchange rate and the cost of courses we can only afford to send our examiners
on 1 course a year. We are very lucky though, as the CPS has committed to
giving us a healthy yearly training budget so our examiners do have the
opportunity to attend various training courses. (generally in very nice warm
places J)
Another pleasant surprise, which in hindsight is not
surprising at all is the level of commitment and knowledge that our examiners
have. All our examiners have such a passion for their jobs and really
enjoy doing what they do. Much like other specialty areas within our
police service, our digital forensic examiners are just as passionate about
their jobs as the members of K9, Tactical Team, homicide investigators or any
other specialty area are. They train and work just as hard as anyone
else, they just happen to do it from behind a keyboard as opposed to a
Glock. If someone recognizes that we could be doing something better or
that an app can be created to make our end product better, they will.
Everything our examiners do on a day to day basis is in an effort to make our
lab more efficient and be better than the day before.
As the months go by I’m still amazed by the work our
examiners do but as I get to know them better and how smart they actually are I
will be less and less ‘surprised’ with their brilliance!
4. What does an average week look like for you in leading
your team? What do you find yourself spending the most time on?
The majority of my time is focused around managing our
Intake Queue and deciding which files should be assigned next. When I
first started back in December 2017 we had around 20 files waiting to be
assigned, currently we’re at 45 with close to 100 exhibits requiring our
attention. The majority of our files come from our Major Crimes Section,
those being Homicide, Sex Crimes and Child Abuse. Some files only have 1
or 2 exhibits while others can have anywhere from 10-15. Our in house
Intake Queue was designed by one our tech’s and provides a lot of information
that helps me decide which files are assigned next. One of the biggest
factors involved in deciding when a file is assigned is if there is a search
warrant attached to it and when it expires. More than 50% our of files
have search warrant time frames so I always have to be aware of when they expire
so that I don’t have to tell the investigator that they need to request an
extension if we are unable to examine their device within the initial time
frame requested. Crimes against people often take priority over property
or drug related files, however I still thinks it’s important to have those
files/devices examined so I try to alternate assigning major crimes files with
the other ones that come in. I also feel strongly about assigning files
from our front line patrol members as quickly as I can. Our front line
officers are so busy and overworked that if one of them has taken the time to
seize a device and write a search warrant then I think it’s very important to
show them that we are willing and capable of helping them out when they need
it.
Another big part of my job is offering advice when it
comes to safely seizing, storing and how to write a search warrant for an
electronic device prior to it coming to our office for examination. I
also find myself having to explain to investigators why it takes so long
to examine and extract data from devices. Currently we ask for a 6 month
time frame to examine devices, which can be frustrating for investigators
especially if they need evidence from a device prior to laying charges.
Everyone’s file is very important to them and want as much information or
evidence that is available to them and sometimes having to wait months isn’t
what they want to hear.
When I first started in DFT I wanted to expand my
technical knowledge base around computers and cell phones but I had no idea
where to turn. Thankfully I was directed to your organization and I
started taking the on-line courses that NW3C provides to the LE
community. So the first few weeks of supervising the members of DFT I
completed at least one or two on-line courses so I had a better understanding
of what they guys were talking about! Since then I’ve moved on to taking
on-line Comptia A+ courses to expand my limited knowledge base further. I
have to admit that even though I was never close to being a ‘computer geek’ or
even interested in the internal workings of computers I’m really enjoying
learning about these things and think I’ll continue taking courses and seminars
when time permits. With my increased knowledge base I also like shadowing
the guys in the lab and watching them work and have them explain what and how
they are doing things. Lately I’ve been trying to help out by starting
the initial exam process by doing the relatively simple things like
photographing the exhibit and extracting the SIM card information so when the
file is assigned the guys can get straight to the examination
process.
Other typical supervisor things I do on a weekly basis
include managing time off, vacation requests, approving time sheets and
advocating to my bosses that we are working at over- capacity and need more
tech’s. I hope this gives a brief glimpse into our lab in Calgary and
what my typical work week looks like.
5. What sort
of cases does your team get involved with?
Our team examines devices from almost any criminal
offence you can think of. The files that take up our most time however
are generally homicide files that can have anywhere from between 1-15 exhibits
that require examination. Currently our intake queue has 45 files waiting
to be assigned and they include homicides, sexual assaults, aggravated
assaults, child abuse, fraud, criminal harassment (stalking), drugs, voyeurism,
extortion, stolen property and break and enter files. Occasionally we are
asked to attend crime scene locations to examine devices on site or attend
search warrants for the same reasons. When time permits some of our techs
also get involved in R&D to create app’s or trouble shoot problems that
come up. One recent example of this is one of our tech has written a
script to help decrypt secure notes found on an iPhone that were extracted by
our Graykey for another local police agency. The app he created is now
being shared with a Detective from Nashville investigating a child abuse case
where potential evidence is located in the secure notes feature of an
iPhone. Unfortunately our guys are so busy that not enough time can be
dedicated to R&D which is unfortunate since they create very useful app’s
that make their jobs easier and more efficient. Historically they have
also been asked by other work areas within the CPS to create databases to help
those areas track their files. For now though, until our work area is
better staffed the R&D work they do has to take a back seat so that we can
keep up the work we get on a daily basis.
6. What
advice would you give someone else who found themselves in charge of a similar
unit without having done digital forensics work prior to that assignment?
Good question. I think the biggest thing to
remember is to not get to hung up on the technology side of things and remember
that you are first and foremost a supervisor and not a digital forensics
tech. For me it was very important to begin by understanding what the
tech’s on our team are capable of doing but not necessarily understanding how they
do it. This is still a work in progress but they guys are very supportive
and patient with my questions. I know that I will never come close to
having the same level of computer/technical knowledge or experience the guys
have and I accept that, which goes back to my first point of realizing that I’m
a supervisor and my job is very different than theirs. I would encourage
anyone thinking of taking on this role to attend their lab, speak with the
techs and actually see what their jobs are all about, it might surprise
you. Be prepared to say ‘no’ as well. Software, hardware and
training are all very expensive, and as nice as it is to have every tool at
your disposal it’s just not financially feasible for tech’s to have everything
they want, not necessarily need, especially for a municipal police service like
ours. Looking back I would also consider completing the Comptia A+ course
prior to managing a lab. Although it’s not necessary, and I still firmly
believe a supervisor does not need previous computer or tech experience, it
would definitely help especially if you could speak a little bit of computer
language with your techs. Not to belabour my first point but I think the
most important thing to remember is that you are a supervisor and it’s your job
to supervisor the people in your lab. Everything else will fall in to
place if you keep that your priority. The past 6 months have definitely
been eye opening for me, especially on the technical side of things, but
overall supervising a digital forensics lab with no previous experience has had
its challenges however is very rewarding and enjoyable.
