Intelligent evidence
| Author | Fraser Sampson |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X16671031 |
| Published date | 01 March 2017 |
| Date | 01 March 2017 |
Article
Intelligent evidence:
Using open source
intelligence (OSINT)
in criminal proceedings
Fraser Sampson
Chief Executive & Solicitor, Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner,
West Yorkshire, Wakefield, UK
Abstract
Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) are coming to terms with the potency of social media
and Internet-based communication, not solely as an extension of mass communication
but as a phenomenological source of intelligence. One feature of the expansion of
material – particularly that which is openly available to investigators – is the narrowing of
traditional boundaries between information to support lines of activity (intelligence) and
material to be relied on during a criminal trial (evidence). This article addresses the legal
considerations facing LEAs when this concatenation of two different categories of
material occurs and matters of how to reconcile them.
Keywords
OSINT, evidence, social media, intelligence
Introduction
Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) around the world are rapidly coming to terms with
the potency of social media and Internet-based communication, not solely as an exten-
sion of their own mass communication (Bruns and Burgess, 2012; Coptich and Fox,
2010; Crump, 2011) but as a phenomenological source of intelligence that for centuries
has been the lifeblood of criminal investigation. One feature of the truly exponential
expansion of accessible material – particularly that material which is openly available to
investigators (Akhgar et al., 2015; Staniforth and Akhgar, 2015) – appears to be the
narrowing of the traditional boundaries between information to support lines of inquiry
Corresponding author:
Fraser Sampson, Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner, West Yorkshire, Ploughland House, George St,
Wakefield WF1 1DL, UK.
Email: fraser_ospre@hotmail.com
The Police Journal:
Theory, Practice and Principles
2017, Vol. 90(1) 55–69
ªThe Author(s) 2016
Reprints and permission:
sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0032258X16671031
journals.sagepub.com/home/pjx
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