Answer

Forensic Investigative Services

The substance of employing digital forensics is to help answer legal or investigative questions with the aim of using the evidence to prove or disapprove a case pending in court (Amendt et al., 2007). To make sure that guilty people are convicted or that the innocent ones in a case are not convicted, there is need to apply processes of quality assurance to all stages of digital forensic evaluation/examination (Ansell, 2013). The maintenance of high laboratory standards, according to Levy et al. (2019), rests on a foundation of robust and sound quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC). QC refers to measures that are employed in ensuring that the product meets a quality standard (Gough, 2017). QC refers to the measures that are employed by a laboratory to verify, monitor, and document its productivity and performance (Levy et al., 2019). Regular auditing and regular proficiency of laboratory equipment/operations are both crucial elements of QA programs. The aim of this paper is to provide a forensic plan to make sure the state crime laboratory’s current challenges with its computer forensic examinations are erased and training is offered.

Forensic Plan and Policy Adherence

To maintain digital evidences and product’s integrity, the state crime laboratory should ensure that each stage of its forensic examinations is subjected to controls. Reviews at an administrative, peer, and program levels are QC components that the state crime laboratory should use in its computer forensics. The process of peer (technical) review is when forensic evaluation/exploration products and results are explored by at least one other forensic scientist (Amendt et al., 2007). This will help the state crime laboratory to protect its findings against inaccuracy by making use of other experts to identify shortcomings and errors with special regard to the conclusions of forensic examinations before they are submitted to court (Ansell, 2013).  Peer review will help the laboratory to answer questions like: Was the examination conducted appropriate? Does the report sufficiently describe all the findings? Were suitable examinations performed? Were the tools and equipment used efficient and effective?

The second way in which the lab and the investigator can ensure proper QC and QA over the lab’s computer forensic products is proper documentation during the forensic process. The investigator and the lab should ensure that each step executed during an investigation is communicated in a document, and the document is reviewed against the quality of its evidence(s). Similarly, during the reporting stage of a forensic examination process, the lab and the investigator should uphold QA and QC by subjecting reports and products to rigorous administrative review ahead of submission to court to ensure its accuracy, completeness, and efficiency (Gough, 2017). The review ought to be done by another party and should include a product’s client/agency name, rightly described items, case number, grammar and spelling.

Also, to test the quality of products, the lab and the investigator should ensure that all products are proved to be functioning correctly as desired according forensic products standards. In addition, there is need to verify forensic examination products and results with another product or result by carrying out the same assessment steps with another product. Also called cross-validation, this technique will help the state crime laboratory to verify its forensic product with another. Moreover, according to Accreditation Board of the American Association of Crime Laboratory Directors (ASCLD-LAB), the state crime laboratory should have an extensive documentation of all its lab operations (like the training, education, and experience of its personnel; the calibration and specification of its products; the description and validation of analytical methods, appropriate definitions of controls and standards, procedures for handling forensic samples, as well as the guidelines for reporting and interpreting data and products), external and internal audits, proficiency testing, among other aspects.

Order of Volatility

Dealing with stakeholders is among the challenges that companies and organizations face. The state crime laboratory should offer training, education and spell out experience needed for one to be its suppliers and distributors. They must be able to provide products that are high quality. To ensure this, licensing and certification of suppliers and distributors should be checked to demonstrate that the distributors and suppliers are allowed by authority to deal in whatever they deal based upon legal and professional grounds. Certification should recognize that a supplier or distributor has knowledge and skill required to deal in computer forensic world. Vendor certifications of the suppliers should also be considered to ensure suppliers’ proprietary products. As a way of motivating their suppliers and distributors, the lab should offer special pricing strategy to different suppliers and distributors based on the quality of services and products that they offer. This will make the distributors and suppliers to strive to get the special prices and this will subsequently lead to increased quality of products offered by the state crime laboratory.

To their end-consumers, the state crime laboratory should ensure that they properly provide information regarding their products and services. Such information should not be misleading, but must be comprehensive enough to answer all consumers’ questions. Similarly, they should offer favourable market prices for their products and must provide a variety of products based on quantity/sizes of products. Special pricing strategy will also be employed for the state crime laboratory’s customers. This will attract its potential clients and help retain its current customers. With an expanded market share for the lab’s products, there will be constant increase in the quantity demanded by the lab. Thus, the lab’s products inflow and outflow will be continuous.

Conclusion

Evidently, the most important facet of forensic examination is the products’ or results’ quality. To ensure the accuracy and reliability of forensic examinations, effective QA and QC must be instituted and maintained. QA can warrant that forensic examination outcomes are successfully admitted for any use. The acquisition of products stage must, therefore, be carried out rightly by making sure there is the use of standard and documented procedures, confirmed forensic apparatus/products and technical competencies of the lab examiners along with the technical capabilities of the lab. Documented procedures must equally be followed step by step. At the reporting stage, quality can be warranted by subjecting the analysis and reports to thorough peer review ahead of submission for further use.