Division Manager

Rob Swift

Mission Statement

The San Luis Obispo (SLO) County Central Coast Cyber Forensic Laboratory (3CFL), under the management of the SLO County District Attorney's Office, provides each law enforcement agency within the County access to state of the art digital forensic evidence collection platforms.  Through our expertly trained personnel and digital forensic equipment, we enhance each agency's investigative capabilities to dynamically adapt to change in technology, ensuring that evidence is collected for admission in court.

Overview

Digital forensics is the process of uncovering and interpreting electronic data so that it can be used in a court proceeding. The goal of the process is to preserve any evidence in its most original form. This evidence is then structurally analyzed by collecting, identifying, and validating the digital information to reconstruct past events. Experience has shown that high technology crime is not specific to any jurisdiction or agency; because of this, law enforcement partners in the 3CFL are leading a focused, coordinated, and collaborative effort to combat the increasing frequency and intensity of high technology crime in all of SLO County.

Digital forensics is a relatively new and still developing field of forensic science. An estimated 22 billion devices are currently connected, that number is expected to skyrocket to over 75 billion by 2025; with that many connected devices, very few crimes will not have a digital footprint. Therefore, law enforcement personnel must remain adaptive, agile, and collaborative when working with this ever-evolving technology.

The collegial working relationship between the SLO District Attorney’s Office, Cal Poly, and local law agencies has enabled the 3CFL to grow and change at a rapid pace. This allows the 3CFL to stay ahead of industry trends and take part of the hands-on training opportunities made available through Cal Poly’s California Cybersecurity Institute (CCI).

​The 3CFL is under the management of the SLO District Attorney's Office - Bureau of Investigations.

For more information, click here to visit the 3CFL website.