05 Dec Do blue lives matter?

In the current political focus it is not helpful to have another harangue from an opinion shaper. This blog includes just my personal experiences — and the role of computer forensics.

Remember the ’70s? Seattle had become the bomb capital of the US. The government was the focus of much of the hate. I recall a coworker at UW who summed this mood up pretty well. His philosophy was that there is no good in the government so the only option is to tear it down. He felt that whatever came in its place was bound to be better. Fortunately, before he could take action he fled to Canada. His quick departure was somehow related to a massive cash shortage at the bank where his wife worked.

Computer forensics bring evil into focus

Remember the last decade? Our region made headlines because the focus of hate (and assassination) became police officers. In the frantic search for one killer we were called for assistance. We recovered deleted video fragments that showed the killer driving by a parked police car. That was moments before he returned to shoot police officer Timothy Brenton in Seattle’s central district. All of a sudden the impact of this crime became visible… visible because I was seeing what actually happened (that’s what computer forensic investigations do). A portion of that video which has been released is shown below.

We have done forensic investigations related to police officers in different situations. Our approach is to represent the facts, not politics. My observation is that the system is working. Police work is attracting folks who are not afraid of risk; those who don’t behave are being pushed out.

Of course, blue lives matter… and today with voices behind megaphones inspiring followers to kill cops they matter even more.

The answer to the next question is — Yes, I was stopped by police recently for driving our equipment van with headlights out … by an alert police officer doing his job.