Agenda Item Request
title
Authorization of the purchase of Cellebrite Digital Intelligence software, hardware, and associated training for a total cost of $432,298.68 using grant funds over a five year term, and authorize the County to enter into the associated Quote and incorporated license terms with Cellebrite.
body
Background and Purpose of Request
Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO), Serves as the statewide investigative hub for The Maine Multidisciplinary Trafficking Response Initiative (MDI), a five year, statewide effort to institutionalize a coordinated, survivor centered response to all forms of human trafficking, with a primary focus on labor trafficking, and severe forms of labor exploitation in Maine.
Through its participation in MDI, CCSO is working with Preble Street and other law enforcement and community partners to strengthen Maine's response to human trafficking. The initiative is supported by funding from the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and is intended to improve the identification, investigation, and prosecution of human trafficking while supporting a survivor-centered and trauma-informed approach.
A critical component of these investigations is the ability to identify, preserve, and analyze digital evidence. Human trafficking investigations frequently involve evidence contained on mobile phones and other electronic devices, including text messages, communications, location information, financial transactions, photographs, and other digital records that may help establish relationships, patterns of control, financial exploitation, and the movement of individuals.
CCSO is seeking authorization to purchase and enter into an agreement with Cellebrite for its Digital Intelligence software, which will give CCSO the capability to forensically extract and analyze digital evidence obtained during authorized investigations. This capability will support investigators in developing objective evidence that can corroborate witness and survivor ac...
Click here for full text