1. What role, if any, should a police union have in determining organizational polices, and why?

2. What five facts make a difference in police labor-management relations?

3. What should the relationship be between the police chief and the police union, and why?

This week you are reading and watching about the forensic tools used by Computer Forensics Examiners. While the two most popular tools are Guidance Software’s EnCase and AccessData’s FTK, there are other tools that are available and should be part of your toolbox. Once you have properly identified and collected digital evidence, the next step is to analyze it. It does not really matter if you are performing analysis as part of a criminal investigation or as part of a corporate investigation; you should always follow the same protocols.

An emphasis in this course is on helping you understand why using an analysis protocol is important. It goes back to our discussion in week one regarding best practices and industry standards. Remember, you should NEVER, EVER work on original evidence if it can be avoided by any means; instead, use a forensic image. When you work on the image, you pick the tools you will use. Again, it does not matter which tool you actually use, as long as the tool is accepted by the forensic community, and you are able to testify to the tool’s validity as well as the process you used in your examination.

During your analysis, you should document every step you take and all of your findings. Some tools have a report function that works well to capture both the identified data and the date/time of your various analyses. However, this should always be supplemented with your own notes and documentation.

For this week’s discussion, complete the following questions below in detail. Please discuss thoroughly and substantively in your post. Additionally, respond in a thorough, substantive, intelligent way to at least one of your fellow classmates that adds to our discussion and learning of this week’s topic!

1) Discuss in detail why you need to use a write blocker (either hardware or software) in your examinations, whether for a criminal case or a corporate case.

2) Imagine you are a computer forensic examiner receiving a suspect hard disk drive from a detective in your department. The drive was seized properly during a legally executed search warrant. The detective signs the chain of custody log and hands you the drive. Your job is to accept the drive, conduct an analysis, and maintain the drive until trial. Please explain the steps you would take, from receipt of the evidence until testimony, including the reasons why you would take each step. For example, what would you check for when you sign for the drive on the chain of custody document?

We have studied the drug sub-culture and the power of drug addiction in previous segments of this course. The popularity and frequency of use of various drugs continuously ebbs and flows on both the national and local levels. Certain areas of the country have always maintained an appetite for a specific drug type. For example, the Washington DC area has always been a high consumer of PCP and the Baltimore area has always been a high consumer of heroin.

Recognizing patterns of abuse and trends in drug use is critical to developing a robust plan to counteract the problem and procure resources that will be necessary for success. For this discussion question we will be attempting to identify patterns of drug abuse, determine trends and predict what resources will be needed to address the problem.

For this discussion question, please examine the attached chart and answer the following:

What are the two drug types currently responsible for the most overdose deaths in Maryland?

1.From our studies, explain the similarities between these two drug types (specifically explain how they affect users and how addiction to and withdrawal from these drugs are related.)

2.Currently in Maryland, the overdose death rate for heroin is approximately 150% of the rate for prescription opioids. Present a theory for why this has occurred and what possible decision by drug users drove the trend in overdose death rates for these two drug types.