Since being established 8 years ago, the Digital Forensics Crime Lab (DFCL) at DSU has been recognized for its specialization in mobile device research and work on live investigative cases. As both a stand-alone unit and a part of the College of Humanities & Social Sciences, the DFCL is available to students and law enforcement alike.

According to director Mark Spooner, the lab works on 700-800 cases per year (some international) and has completed cases from about 40 different states. While the lab primarily is known for its breakthroughs on cell phones, it has also started to explore automobile forensics, information from drones, home assistants such as Alexa and Amazon Echo, and cybersecurity.

According to Spooner, the lab is “expanding a lot and we’re always very busy. We attend most major conferences—we’ve even exhibited at the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Conference before and we’ll be exhibiting there again next year. For a little school, we’re pretty well known.”

In 2010, Dixie State University received a $1 million earmark from the federal government that funded the DFCL building, a state-of-the-art evidence facility, and continuously upgraded equipment.

One machine the lab uses, called a Chip-Off, helps safely remove desoldered memory chips from cellular phones. A more recent addition to the lab is a new password breaker specifically for computers. Joan Runs Through, the Computer Crime Institute Assistant Director, specializes in using such equipment and adapting to new technologies. Runs Through says, “For the first five years, it was mostly Chip- Offs used on phones, but cell phones change pretty often. A lot of them are starting to use encryption, so they have to be shorted out as they start up, instead.” Runs Through also teaches Digital Forensics classes in the lab geared toward Criminal Justice and Information Technology majors.

As crime in technology continues to advance, the Dixie State University Digital Forensics Crime Lab continues to stay ahead of the curve.