Forensic Focus

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
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🎧 Video/Transcript: https://www.forensicfocus.com/podcast/david-shipley-investigating-the-darkest-corners-of-digital-evidence/
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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
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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
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🎧 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/
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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
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🎧 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/
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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
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