Cell Site Analysis- Reputation is Everything
We have spoken many times about how cell site analysis is an unregulated area of digital forensics. Anyone can claim to be an expert, and they often do.
In our opinion, a previous role in planning and optimising cell sites or similar is crucial to being able to claim expert status in the field of cell site analysis and therefore give an opinion in court.
Cell site analysis is a unique digital forensic discipline and is different from traditional forensics and is therefore not subject to the same statistical based analysis. This is why it requires the experience and knowledge of engineers who have worked within a relevant industry.
The cell site experts at Footprint Investigations are some of the most experienced engineers in the UK. Greg Robinson has prepared over 800 cell site reports for both prosecution and defence cases. His expertise comes from him spending twenty-five years working in the radio communications and mobile telecommunications industry. This included a senior position at Hutchison 3G where he was involved in the planning and optimisation of their 3G network.
Greg has been awarded with two Chief Constables Commendations for his professionalism and case presentation from Leicestershire and Staffordshire Police in relation to his work on very high-profile cases.
John Tarpey is a Chartered Engineer and has a BSc (Hons) in Electrical Engineering. He has over 20 years’ experience in the communications industry and prior to his role as an expert witness John spent over 10 years with the Orange network as a Network Planning Engineer/Manager. John played a major role in the planning and roll out of the Orange network.
John was also awarded a Chief Constables Commendation from Durham Constabulary for his outstanding work on a high-profile murder case.
We believe that these are the only such instances of Chief Constables Commendations within the field of cell site analysis.
Robert (Bob) Knight has been an expert witness in the discipline of cell site analysis for almost twenty years. Prior to this Bob worked at a number of the network providers including O2 and T- Mobile in areas of configuration, monitoring and maintenance of cell sites. Bob has previously been employed by The Metropolitan Police Service as a Forensic Engineer specialising in cell site. Bob has recently re-joined Footprint Investigations after another spell working for the Metropolitan Police.
Tim Smith has over twenty-five years’ experience working in radio and telecommunications industries. Tim has a Post Graduate Certificate in wireless communications and also taught this course for several years. He worked deploying mobile radio, microwave and satellite communications for twenty-two years in the British Army. Tim has also been employed by Nokia as a project engineer and was also Head of Training for a telecommunications company prior to his role as an expert witness.
The cell site experts at Footprint Investigations have prepared thousands of reports and given evidence in hundreds of criminal trials in courts all over the UK.
Many police forces use in house staff to conduct their work. If you are going to challenge their evidence then you need to make sure that your expert can do so with credibility.
If you would like to discuss a case, please contact Denise on 01527 467467 or denise@footprintinvestigations.com