Forensic Focus

Rob Fried, Executive Vice President of Forensics and Chief Investigative Officer at Page One, and Andrew Milauskas, Page One's Chief Operating Officer, join the Forensic Focus Podcast to talk about using AI in digital forensics and e-discovery. Rob introduces forensics.expert, his free AI-powered knowledge portal built only on his own books, lectures and presentations, which answers practitioners' and students' questions around the clock while staying within its source material to keep hallucinations to a minimum. He explains why he focuses on foundational knowledge rather than tool versions and file paths, and how built-in session logging and branded PDF exports give users an audit trail. Si and Desi also put the portal through its paces live, raising questions about privacy, data retention and how to keep it free. The conversation then turns to AI in investigations more broadly. Andrew describes using offline LLMs to process tens of thousands of handwritten medical records, the trade-offs between manual review and AI-assisted search, and the importance of sampling and validation. Si warns of the bias that automated transcription and image enhancement can introduce, using Amped FIVE's number plate tool as an example, and the group discusses the hardware and cloud costs of running AI at scale. Rob closes with his experience teaching at university level, where handwritten exams, practical exercises and mantras like "No documentation, no evidence" help students build critical thinking rather than depend on AI. #AIForensics #EDiscovery #ArtificialIntelligence #Relativity #LegalTech #DigitalForensics #DFIR 00:00 State of DFIR Survey 00:26 Welcome and Banter 02:00 Meet Rob and Andrew 04:58 AI Arrives in Forensics 05:35 Forensics Expert Overview 08:03 Keeping Answers Grounded 16:14 Expert Systems and Foundations 19:43 Verification and Audit Trail 23:38 Privacy Risks and Funding Ideas 27:55 Data Points to Truth 28:52 Knowledge Quiz and Assessment 30:55 AI as a Starting Point 32:31 Bias Risks in AI Transcription 35:07 Scaling with AI for Records 39:01 Hardware and Cloud Costs 41:31 Keeping It Free and Trusted 45:26 Teaching Critical Thinking 50:57 Wrapping Up and Farewell 👉 Visit Forensic Focus: https://www.forensicfocus.com 🎧 Video/Transcript: https://www.forensicfocus.com/podcast/page-ones-rob-fried-and-andrew-milauskas-on-using-ai-in-digital-forensics-and-e-discovery/ 📝 Show Notes Forensic Focus State of DFIR Survey – https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/H86YN5S forensics.expert – https://forensics.expert/ Page One – https://pageonelegal.com/ Forensics by Fried – https://forensicsbyfried.com PI Magazine – https://pimagazine.com 👉 Follow Forensic Focus RSS | https://www.forensicfocus.com/feed YouTube | https://youtube.com/@ForensicFocus Podcast | https://forensicfocus.com/podcast LinkedIn Page | https://linkedin.com/company/forensicfocus LinkedIn Group | https://linkedin.com/groups/693917 X (Twitter) | https://x.com/ForensicFocus Facebook | https://facebook.com/forensicfocus Bluesky | https://bsky.app/profile/forensicfocus.bsky.social Instagram | https://instagram.com/forensicfocus TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@forensicfocus Mastodon | https://dfir.social/@forensicfocus  

Matt Goeckel, Global Technical Marketing Leader at Cellebrite, joins the Forensic Focus Podcast to talk about Cellebrite Genesis, the company's new agentic AI platform for investigations. Matt tells Si and Desi how he went from Police Explorer to detective, set up his agency's mobile forensics lab, and then moved to Cellebrite. The three discuss why so many police examiners leave the job when promotion means returning to patrol. They also explain why rotating detectives through specialist roles doesn't work in a field that changes with every iOS release. The conversation then turns to Genesis, which lets investigators "talk to the evidence" across phones, computers, documents, CCTV and more. Matt explains how every finding links back to its source so a human can verify it. He also covers consistent results, support for 110 languages, the platform running on Google Cloud with Gemini models, case sharing, PDF exports, and image, video and audio analysis. He walks through Deep Investigator, which can decode raw databases that haven't been parsed yet, along with file limits, processing times and token-based pricing. He also previews warrant scoping, a feature currently in beta that keeps the AI within the scope of a warrant. The episode closes on whether planted files could poison an AI-assisted analysis. #Cellebrite #CellebriteGenesis #AIForensics #MobileForensics #LawEnforcement #DigitalForensics #DFIR 00:00 Take the Forensic Focus State of DFIR Survey 00:26 Back After the Break 01:33 Meet Matt Goeckel of Cellebrite 02:39 From Police Explorer to Examiner 06:49 Knowing When It's Time to Leave 09:31 No Career Path for Police Examiners 12:50 Why Examiner Rotations Don't Work 16:22 Introducing Cellebrite Genesis 19:49 Investigation vs Evidence: Human in the Loop 23:10 Consistent Results and 110 Languages 26:11 Gemini, GCP and Data Privacy 27:51 Case Sharing and PDF Exports 29:59 Why Genesis Won't Write Your Report 32:30 How Examiners Put Genesis to Work 33:57 Searching Images, Video and Audio 36:25 Finding Guns, Drugs and Contraband 37:58 iOS Changes and Deep Investigator 41:28 Teaching Genesis New Databases 45:03 1 TB Uploads, E01s and PSTs 46:10 Processing Time: It Depends 48:59 Token Pricing and Case Storage 51:38 Roadmap and Warrant Scoping 55:39 AI Poisoning and Guardrails 57:19 Wrap-Up and Where to Listen 📋 Take our survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/H86YN5S 👉 Visit Forensic Focus: https://www.forensicfocus.com 🎧 Video/Transcript: https://www.forensicfocus.com/podcast/agentic-ai-for-digital-investigations-matt-goeckel-introduces-cellebrite-genesis/ 📝 Show Notes Cellebrite Genesis – https://cellebrite.com/en/products/cellebrite-genesis/ Cellebrite Physical Analyzer – https://cellebrite.com/en/products/cellebrite-inseyets/physical-analyzer/ Cellebrite Reader – https://cellebrite.com/en/products/cellebrite-inseyets/reader/ National Computer Forensics Institute – https://www.ncfi.usss.gov Google Cloud – https://cloud.google.com Google Gemini – https://deepmind.google/models/gemini/ OpenClaw – https://openclaw.ai Forensic Focus Podcast with Heather and Jared Barnhart – https://www.forensicfocus.com/podcast/the-idaho-murders-from-behavioural-clues-to-ais-role-in-digital-forensics/ 👉 Follow Forensic Focus RSS | https://www.forensicfocus.com/feed YouTube | https://youtube.com/@ForensicFocus Podcast | https://forensicfocus.com/podcast LinkedIn Page | https://linkedin.com/company/forensicfocus LinkedIn Group | https://linkedin.com/groups/693917 X (Twitter) | https://x.com/ForensicFocus Facebook | https://facebook.com/forensicfocus Bluesky | https://bsky.app/profile/forensicfocus.bsky.social Instagram | https://instagram.com/forensicfocus TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@forensicfocus Mastodon | https://dfir.social/@forensicfocus  

Phil Anderson, Senior Lecturer at Northumbria University, returns to the Forensic Focus Podcast to continue unpacking the mental health findings of the Forensic Focus International Well-Being Study. Host Paul Gullon-Scott walks through the clinical picture emerging from a survey of 179 digital forensic investigators, beginning with PTSD symptoms measured by the PCL-5: 47% reported hypervigilance at a moderate level or above, 45% difficulty sleeping, 44% difficulty concentrating, and 43% intrusive thoughts about their casework. Paul and Phil discuss the comorbidity behind those numbers — investigators rarely experience these symptoms in isolation — and how they follow people home, into short tempers, withdrawal from partners, and imagery appearing in dreams. They also examine the most clinically significant finding in the study: 20% of respondents reported active suicidal or self-harm ideation at a clinically meaningful level, roughly four times the estimated general workforce rate. The conversation then turns to why so few investigators seek help, and what organisations are failing to provide. 49% of respondents receive no clinical or psychological supervision whatsoever, 54% have never taken part in a peer debrief, and 61% did not access support services in the past year — with lack of time, confidentiality concerns, and fear of career consequences cited as the main barriers. Paul and Phil discuss the PHQ-15 physical health data, why resilience is a depletable resource rather than a personal trait, and how coping strategies built around AI-generated CSAM are already breaking down as the material becomes more realistic. #InvestigatorWellbeing #MentalHealth #PoliceWellbeing #CSAM #AIGeneratedCSAM #DigitalForensics #DFIR 00:00 Welcome and Study Setup 01:18 PTSD Symptoms Breakdown 05:27 Comorbidity and Home Impact 08:16 Case Volume and CSAM Reality 10:16 AI Trauma and Other Content 11:42 Depression and Suicidal Ideation 17:36 Stigma and Support Gaps 24:31 Mandatory Support and Priorities 25:59 Physical Health Effects Begin 26:37 Stress Hits The Body 29:04 No Respite In Casework 31:28 Resilience And Stigma 35:06 AI CSAM Coping Limits 37:20 Supervision Support Gaps 41:42 Peer Debriefs Missing 45:01 Barriers To Seeking Help 49:12 Reach Out And Resources 👉 Visit Forensic Focus: https://www.forensicfocus.com 🎧 Video/Transcript: https://www.forensicfocus.com/podcast/impact-coping-and-support-further-reflections-from-the-dfir-well-being-study/ 📝 Show Notes Forensic Focus International Well-Being Study 2026 Report - https://www.forensicfocus.com/well-being/forensic-focus-international-well-being-study-2026-report/ Forensic Focus Well-Being - https://www.forensicfocus.com/well-being/ If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this episode, these organisations may be of help: Samaritans – https://www.samaritans.org Mind – https://www.mind.org.uk Oscar Kilo – https://www.oscarkilo.org.uk/ Occupational health unit (OHU) – all police forces have access to an OHU providing a range of support services Employee Assistance Scheme (EAS) – check with your employer to see what specific resources are available to you GP – your GP can provide access to various local resources and make referrals to psychological support services 👉 Follow Forensic Focus RSS | https://www.forensicfocus.com/feed YouTube | https://youtube.com/@ForensicFocus Podcast | https://forensicfocus.com/podcast LinkedIn Page | https://linkedin.com/company/forensicfocus LinkedIn Group | https://linkedin.com/groups/693917 X (Twitter) | https://x.com/ForensicFocus Facebook | https://facebook.com/forensicfocus Bluesky | https://bsky.app/profile/forensicfocus.bsky.social Instagram | https://instagram.com/forensicfocus TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@forensicfocus Mastodon | https://dfir.social/@forensicfocus

Ben Dimmock, Police Well-Being Lead at Bedfordshire Police, joins the Forensic Focus Podcast to talk about psychological safety, trauma exposure, and the long-term emotional toll of working in policing and digital forensics. Ben shares his own experience of depression 12 years into his service, the stigma that made him hide it, and how opening up eventually led him to build and lead one of the largest full-time police well-being teams in the country. He and host Paul explore why well-being has to be treated as an operational necessity rather than a "pink and fluffy" add-on, and how a culture of stoicism has historically driven burnout, long-term sickness, and unresolved trauma. The conversation digs into cumulative trauma — the gradual erosion that builds job after job until something small flicks the switch — and what genuinely psychologically safe leadership looks like versus performative box-ticking. Ben explains the day-to-day work of his team, from 80–100 welfare interventions a month and TRiM (Trauma Risk Management) assessments to peer support networks, and two services he believes are unique to Bedfordshire: dedicated welfare support for officers under investigation, and support for their families. Drawing on Paul's own background in online child abuse investigations and his current work as an NHS psychologist, the two discuss supervision, proactive check-ins, and why sometimes people just need to be listened to rather than "fixed." #PoliceWellbeing #PsychologicalSafety #MentalHealth #TraumaInformedLeadership #Policing #DigitalForensics 00:00 Introducing Ben Dimmock 02:22 Depression and Breaking Stigma 04:46 Speaking Out 06:48 Why Well-Being Is Operational 10:12 Stoicism and Burnout Costs 12:00 Defining Psychological Safety 15:19 Proactive Support Culture 16:44 Building a Well-Being Team 20:57 Cumulative Trauma and Check-Ins 22:09 Supervision and TRiM Tools 26:45 Quick Check Ins 28:02 Cumulative Trauma Explained 30:13 Investigations And Welfare 33:45 Real Versus Performative 36:40 Inside The Well-Being Team 39:34 Supporting Families Too 41:47 Don't Suffer Alone 42:59 Listening Versus Fixing 44:03 Closing Thoughts 👉 Visit Forensic Focus: https://www.forensicfocus.com 🎧 Video/Transcript: https://www.forensicfocus.com/podcast/cumulative-trauma-in-digital-forensics-and-policing-with-ben-dimmock/ 📝 Show Notes Bedfordshire Police – https://www.beds.police.uk/ Oscar Kilo / National Police Well-being Service – https://www.oscarkilo.org.uk/ TRiM (Trauma Risk Management) – https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a79e5f4e5274a18ba50f9cf/0392-12attachment2of2.pdf Ben Dimmock on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-dimmock-6325b4316/ 👉 Follow Forensic Focus RSS | https://www.forensicfocus.com/feed YouTube | https://youtube.com/@ForensicFocus Podcast | https://forensicfocus.com/podcast LinkedIn Page | https://linkedin.com/company/forensicfocus LinkedIn Group | https://linkedin.com/groups/693917 X (Twitter) | https://x.com/ForensicFocus Facebook | https://facebook.com/forensicfocus Bluesky | https://bsky.app/profile/forensicfocus.bsky.social Instagram | https://instagram.com/forensicfocus TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@forensicfocus Mastodon | https://dfir.social/@forensicfocus

David Shipley, Instructor at Anglia Ruskin University, joins the Forensic Focus Podcast to talk about the human cost of online safeguarding work and his fight to close a gap in UK law. Drawing on 16 years investigating abusive imagery and online child sexual offending, David reflects on what the work actually involves — from the scale of the problem and the relentless build-up of warrants and digital forensic backlogs, to the difficult triage decisions investigators must make when no team can examine every device. He's candid about what "safeguarding" really means in practice, and about the mental toll the role takes on the people who do it. The conversation then turns to David's final year in policing, when his work on the David Fuller case led him to discover that much of the sexual abuse of corpses he was cataloguing was not actually illegal. David explains how he took that discovery from a Ministry of Justice rejection through a lost bill and a change of government to eventual Royal Assent — a four-year campaign that introduced a new offence and raised the maximum sentence for sexual penetration of a corpse from two to seven years. He closes with frank advice for the next generation of investigators on protecting their own well-being and holding onto an investigative mindset. #OnlineSafeguarding #InvestigatorWellbeing #LawReform #Policing #MentalHealth #DigitalForensics #DFIR 00:00 Introducing David Shipley 01:20 An Unusual Route Into Safeguarding 03:23 The Scale Of The Problem 06:55 Warrants, Workload And Backlogs 08:40 Triage: You Can't Examine Everything 11:52 What Safeguarding Really Means 14:46 The Hidden Mental Toll 18:21 How Welfare Support Evolved 22:27 Questionnaires And Team Culture 24:58 The Session That Changed My Mind 26:15 The David Fuller Case 29:27 Retiring, Then Returning To Finish The Job 31:51 Continuity And Limiting Exposure 33:50 Discovering The Gap In The Law 36:38 Shock, Duty And Dignity In Death 38:24 Launching The Campaign 41:11 The Ministry Of Justice Says No 44:05 Setbacks, A Lost Bill And A Second Chance 47:00 Royal Assent And Mixed Emotions 50:31 What The New Law Actually Changes 55:32 Advice For The Next Generation 58:08 Closing Reflections 👉 Visit Forensic Focus: https://www.forensicfocus.com 🎧 Video/Transcript: https://www.forensicfocus.com/podcast/david-shipley-investigating-the-darkest-corners-of-digital-evidence/ 👉 Follow Forensic Focus RSS | https://www.forensicfocus.com/feed YouTube | https://youtube.com/@ForensicFocus Podcast | https://forensicfocus.com/podcast LinkedIn Page | https://linkedin.com/company/forensicfocus LinkedIn Group | https://linkedin.com/groups/693917 X (Twitter) | https://x.com/ForensicFocus Facebook | https://facebook.com/forensicfocus Bluesky | https://bsky.app/profile/forensicfocus.bsky.social Instagram | https://instagram.com/forensicfocus TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@forensicfocus Mastodon | https://dfir.social/@forensicfocus

Marcus Rowe, Business Director – Public Safety & Forensics at Leica Geosystems, joins the Forensic Focus Podcast to talk about 3D laser scanning, forensic digital twins, and the role of LiDAR in modern crime and collision investigation. Marcus shares his path from military and civilian policing — including a career in forensic collision investigation with Devon & Cornwall Police — into industry, and explains how Leica Geosystems (part of Hexagon) is empowering investigators with tools that capture entire scenes for analysis, courtroom presentation, and cold case review. Marcus and Si also discuss the upcoming Forensics Europe Expo at Olympia on 1–2 July, which is set to bring together senior leaders, practitioners and solution providers from across the forensic community. To learn more and secure a free visitor pass, visit: https://www.forensicseuropeexpo.com. The conversation also turns to Marcus's involvement in the world's largest crash test, featured in the Channel 4 documentary Pile Up. Working blind to the staged scenario, Marcus reconstructed the multi-vehicle collision from post-event scene capture and 3D modelling — at times surfacing detail that the 90 cameras filming the event had missed. #LiDAR #3DScanning #CrashInvestigation #ForensicDigitalTwins #LeicaGeosystems #DigitalForensics #DFIR ⏱️ Timestamps 00:00 Welcome Marcus Rowe 02:44 From Policing to Leica Geosystems 05:35 Leica Conference Highlights 08:43 Forensic Digital Twins Talk 17:55 What to Expect at FEE 22:29 Students and Career Pathways 26:08 World's Largest Crash Test 31:07 LiDAR Explained Simply 34:36 Courtroom Storytelling in 3D 36:02 Real Cases and Proof Standards 38:40 TV Production 41:20 Micron Accuracy Use Cases 42:25 Footprints Without Contact 46:56 From Microns to Kilometers 50:35 VR for Juries and Trust 52:04 Holistic Capture Beats Bias 56:02 FEE Event Invitation 01:00:36 Wrap Up 👉 Visit Forensic Focus: https://www.forensicfocus.com 🎧 Video/Transcript: https://www.forensicfocus.com/podcast/leicas-marcus-rowe-on-investigating-the-worlds-largest-crash-test-plus-what-to-expect-at-fee-2026/ 📝 Show Notes Leica Geosystems – https://leica-geosystems.com Hexagon – https://hexagon.com Leica DISTO – https://shop.leica-geosystems.com/disto Forensics Europe Expo (FEE) – https://www.forensicseuropeexpo.com Channel 4 "Pile Up" documentary – https://www.channel4.com/programmes/pile-up-worlds-biggest-crash-test 👉 Follow Forensic Focus RSS | https://www.forensicfocus.com/feed YouTube | https://youtube.com/@ForensicFocus Podcast | https://forensicfocus.com/podcast LinkedIn Page | https://linkedin.com/company/forensicfocus LinkedIn Group | https://linkedin.com/groups/693917 X (Twitter) | https://x.com/ForensicFocus Facebook | https://facebook.com/forensicfocus Bluesky | https://bsky.app/profile/forensicfocus.bsky.social Instagram | https://instagram.com/forensicfocus TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@forensicfocus Mastodon | https://dfir.social/@forensicfocus  

Phil Anderson, Senior Lecturer at Northumbria University, joins the Forensic Focus Podcast to talk about the Forensic Focus International Well-Being Study. Phil and host Paul Gullon-Scott unpack the findings from a survey of 179 digital forensic investigators across the UK, US, Australia, Canada, Germany, South Africa, India, and beyond. The study used validated psychometric instruments to put hard numbers behind what the profession has been hearing anecdotally for years. Paul and Phil dig into the emerging impact of AI-generated CSAM, where 60% of respondents reported finding it slightly more distressing than real material — and where victim identification is beginning to break down as the realism of generated imagery improves. They also examine the most clinically significant finding in the study: 20% of digital forensic investigators reported active suicidal or self-harm ideation at a clinically significant frequency, roughly four times the general population rate. Set against 61% of respondents lacking access to good-quality support services, alongside hypervigilance, sleep disturbance, retention risk, and physical health symptoms, the picture is one Forensic Focus is taking directly to the UK Home Office. #DigitalForensics #DFIR #MentalHealth #InvestigatorWellbeing #CSAM #AIGeneratedCSAM #LawEnforcement 00:00 Welcome and Study Intro 00:38 Meet Phil and Motivation 03:23 Survey Scope and Global Reach 07:53 Who Responded and Why It Matters 09:38 Methodology and Validated Measures 11:38 Workload Pressures and AI Factor 15:21 Top Stressors and Management Levers 20:29 Burnout Risk and Retention Crisis 25:56 AI Generated CSAM Findings 31:36 AI Victim Misidentification 32:42 Investigator Stress Burden  33:27 Tech Outpacing Regulation 36:28 PTSD Symptom Findings 38:06 Judgment Under Trauma 40:14 Suicidal Ideation Data 45:16 Support Services Crisis 46:42 Physical Health Impacts 50:03 Report Next Steps 👉 Visit Forensic Focus: https://www.forensicfocus.com 🎧 Video/Transcript: https://www.forensicfocus.com/podcast/burnout-ptsd-suicidal-thoughts-the-dfir-well-being-study-results-are-in/ 📝 Show Notes Northumbria University – https://www.northumbria.ac.uk Paul Gullon-Scott on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-g-0090605/ Phil Anderson on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/philip-anderson-a555377/ 👉 Follow Forensic Focus RSS | https://www.forensicfocus.com/feed YouTube | https://youtube.com/@ForensicFocus Podcast | https://forensicfocus.com/podcast LinkedIn Page | https://linkedin.com/company/forensicfocus LinkedIn Group | https://linkedin.com/groups/693917 X (Twitter) | https://x.com/ForensicFocus Facebook | https://facebook.com/forensicfocus Bluesky | https://bsky.app/profile/forensicfocus.bsky.social Instagram | https://instagram.com/forensicfocus TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@forensicfocus Mastodon | https://dfir.social/@forensicfocus

Stuart Hutchinson, VP of Sales at ADF Solutions, joins the Forensic Focus Podcast to talk about on-scene digital forensics and empowering first responders during the golden hour. Stuart shares his journey from 23 years with the Met Police — including a chance encounter in a New Scotland Yard lift that led him into Mac forensics and the vendor space at BlackBag, Cellebrite, Oxygen, and now ADF. With 99.9% of investigations involving a digital element, he argues that mishandling digital evidence at the scene is as damaging as trampling through traditional forensic evidence. The conversation covers ADF's preview mode and search profile methodology, which gives first responders advanced logical acquisitions in minutes rather than 45+ minutes for a full extraction. Stuart explains how one UK force cut lab submissions by over 40% using an intelligence-led CAID hash triage strategy, and the team discuss locked-down search profiles built at DFU level, managing collateral intrusion, building trust with victims and witnesses, and ADF's screen capture and OCR for Chromebooks, PlayStations, Xboxes, and anything with HDMI out. #ADFSolutions #OnSceneTriage #MobileForensics #CAID #CSAM #FirstResponders #DigitalForensics #DFIR 00:00 Introducing Stuart Hutchinson and ADF Solutions 02:13 From Met to Mac Forensics 07:26 Why On Scene Triage 08:01 Golden Hour Decisions 13:24 What to Triage First 16:26 ADF Field Kit Overview 18:04 Preview Mode Workflow  22:34 Search Profiles and Staging 26:38 Investigator Over Automation 28:11 Impact and CSAM Hashing 29:34 CAID Hash Triage Strategy 32:45 Efficiency Versus Thoroughness 35:07 Locked Search Profiles 37:20 Training For Limitations 42:46 Device Security Pressures 44:45 From Triage To Full Forensics 47:44 Victim Witness Phone Trust 52:27 Screen Capture And OCR 57:49 Wrap Up And Resources 👉 Visit Forensic Focus: https://www.forensicfocus.com 🎧 Video/Transcript: https://www.forensicfocus.com/podcast/on-scene-digital-forensics-winning-investigations-before-the-lab/ 📝 Show Notes ADF Solutions – https://adfsolutions.com/ ADF Weekly Training Sessions – https://adfsolutions.com/weekly-training-sessions/ 👉 Follow Forensic Focus RSS | https://www.forensicfocus.com/feed YouTube | https://youtube.com/@ForensicFocus Podcast | https://forensicfocus.com/podcast LinkedIn Page | https://linkedin.com/company/forensicfocus LinkedIn Group | https://linkedin.com/groups/693917 X (Twitter) | https://x.com/ForensicFocus Facebook | https://facebook.com/forensicfocus Bluesky | https://bsky.app/profile/forensicfocus.bsky.social Instagram | https://instagram.com/forensicfocus TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@forensicfocus Mastodon | https://dfir.social/@forensicfocus

Dr. Fazeelat Duran, Assistant Professor in Psychology at the University of Birmingham, joins the Forensic Focus Podcast to talk about the psychological impact of working with distressing material in law enforcement roles. Drawing on her recent longitudinal study — the first of its kind to follow newly recruited secondary investigators and analysts from day one through 18 months in role — Dr. Duran explains how repeated, indirect exposure to traumatic material shapes mental health over time. She walks through the trajectory her team observed at six, 12, and 18 months, the concept of "dosage of exposure," and why early warning signs often go hidden in the first six months when the novelty effect masks the emotional toll to come. The conversation then turns to coping strategies, the difference between adaptive and maladaptive responses (including the trap of thought suppression), and the idea of a psychological contract between staff and the organisation — and what happens when that contract is breached through unmanageable workloads, limited staffing, and a lack of allocated time for well-being resources. Dr. Duran and host Paul also discuss what organisations should be doing differently, why a one-size-fits-all approach to support fails this group, and the next phase of Dr. Duran's work, including brain imaging findings and a new study on neurodivergence in this workforce. #SecondaryTraumaticStress #MentalHealth #LawEnforcement #Wellbeing #PsychologicalContract #DigitalForensics #DFIR 00:00 Introducing Dr Fazeelat Duran 02:09 Secondary Trauma Explained 03:42 Research Gap and Longitudinal Study Design 11:17 Early Warning Signs 12:51 Proactive Tailored Support 18:02 Mixed Methods Evidence 19:49 Dosage of Exposure 22:59 Daily Volume and Attrition 25:16 Coping Shifts Over Time 26:45 Maladaptive Coping Patterns 29:05 Isolation and Social Strain 30:34 Workload and AI Pressure 33:08 Psychological Contract Breach 35:23 Building a Caring Culture 37:25 Early Support and Preparation 40:27 Signs, Symptoms and Self Care 42:30 Neurodivergence Research 44:51 Closing Reflections 👉 Visit Forensic Focus: https://www.forensicfocus.com 🎧 Video/Transcript: https://www.forensicfocus.com/podcast/how-distressing-material-shapes-investigator-well-being/ 📝 Show Notes Ongoing Exposure to Distressing Material is Associated with Worsening Mental Health in UK Law Enforcement Staff: a Longitudinal Interview Study – https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11896-026-09809-2 Dr Fazeelat Duran, University of Birmingham – https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/psychology/duran-fazeelat National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) Academic Centres of Excellence – https://news.npcc.police.uk/releases/npcc-creating-nine-policing-academic-centres-of-excellence-p-aces 👉 Follow Forensic Focus RSS | https://www.forensicfocus.com/feed YouTube | https://youtube.com/@ForensicFocus Podcast | https://forensicfocus.com/podcast LinkedIn Page | https://linkedin.com/company/forensicfocus LinkedIn Group | https://linkedin.com/groups/693917 X (Twitter) | https://x.com/ForensicFocus Facebook | https://facebook.com/forensicfocus Bluesky | https://bsky.app/profile/forensicfocus.bsky.social Instagram | https://instagram.com/forensicfocus TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@forensicfocus Mastodon | https://dfir.social/@forensicfocus

Si and Desi discuss a range of digital forensics topics, from writing forensic reports that juries can actually understand, to whether AI is coming for "button pusher" DFIR jobs. They explore plain language standards, the classic confusion between forensic "images" and pictures, and Brett Shavers' provocative blog post on AI and job security — leading into a wider discussion about the distinction between technicians and analysts in digital forensics. Si shares highlights from the Leica Geosystems Conference, including fascinating audio forensics research by Henry Vega on deriving vehicle speeds and weapon calibers from sound recordings, and Swedish police reconstructions of a mass shooting using audio evidence and Unreal Engine walkthroughs. The pair also explore the forensic challenges of AI-generated code, agentic processes on endpoints, and the security risks of consumer AI tools. #DFIR #DigitalForensics #AI #PrivacyParadox #AudioForensics 00:00 Welcome 00:34 Writing Clear Forensic Reports 01:20 Visual Timelines and Storytelling 06:52 Jargon Pitfalls and Glossaries 10:50 Old Media and Blu-Ray News 12:16 UPS Backups and Failing NAS 16:58 AI Will Replace Button Pushers 18:58 Technician vs Analyst Debate 25:54 Backlogs, Privacy and Evidence 34:39 Privacy Paradox and Distrust 42:45 AI Writes Podcast Intro 43:52 Copyright Lawsuit Talk 45:24 Claude vs ChatGPT Coding  48:48 Forensic Traces of AI 50:16 Agentic IR Attribution 53:43 Consumer Agents Security Risks 59:13 Leica Conference Highlights 01:01:09 Audio Forensics Breakthroughs 01:06:44 Image Forgery History 01:12:58 Chunnel Travel 01:17:36 Wrap-Up 👉 Visit Forensic Focus: https://www.forensicfocus.com 🎧 Video/Transcript: https://www.forensicfocus.com/podcast/dfir-in-2026-ai-button-pusher-forensics-writing-courtroom-reports-audio-breakthroughs-and-the-leica-geosystems-conference/ Show Notes 'If you suck at your DFIR job, AI is going to take it.' (Brett Shavers) – https://brettshavers.com/brett-s-blog/entry/if-you-suck-at-your-dfir-job-ai-is-going-to-take-it 'Sony shuts down production of recordable CD-R, DVD-R and BD-R discs' (Azernews) – https://www.azernews.az/region/228058.html Ross Ulbricht (Wikipedia) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Ulbricht 'Regulator contacts Meta over workers watching intimate AI glasses videos' (BBC) – https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0q33nvj0qpo 'Why people don't demand data privacy – even as governments and corporations collect more personal information' (The Conversation) – https://theconversation.com/why-people-dont-demand-data-privacy-even-as-governments-and-corporations-collect-more-personal-information-262197 'Evaluating privacy - determining user privacy expectations on the web' (Science Direct) – https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167404821000651 'The privacy paradox: Stay one step ahead of it' (Data Guard) – https://www.dataguard.com/blog/privacy-paradox/ Oxford Guide to Plain English (Amazon) – https://amzn.eu/d/09dj8Gr8 Placing the Suspect Behind the Keyboard: Using Digital Forensics and Investigative Techniques to Identify Cybercrime Suspects (Amazon) – https://amzn.eu/d/08fpfTny 👉 Follow Forensic Focus RSS | https://www.forensicfocus.com/feed YouTube | https://youtube.com/@ForensicFocus Podcast | https://forensicfocus.com/podcast LinkedIn Page | https://linkedin.com/company/forensicfocus LinkedIn Group | https://linkedin.com/groups/693917 X (Twitter) | https://x.com/ForensicFocus Facebook | https://facebook.com/forensicfocus Bluesky | https://bsky.app/profile/forensicfocus.bsky.social Instagram | https://instagram.com/forensicfocus TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@forensicfocus Mastodon | https://dfir.social/@forensicfocus