Cyber Crimes Bureau

10350 NW 112th Ave
Medley, FL 33178
Phone: 305-863-5080
Email: sihtcbinfo@mdpd.com
Major: George Perera

With the growing popularity and use of computers, the MDPD has seen a significant increase in conducting and assisting with investigations where computers are being utilized to commit fraud and identify theft and criminal financing via cryptocurrencies. The Strategic Innovations and High Technology Crimes Bureau (SIHTC) collaborates with and assists federal, state, and other local law enforcement in enforcing federal, state, and local criminal laws relating to computer-related crime through forensic collection, recovery, processing, preservation, analysis, storage, maintenance, and presentation of digital evidence.

The SITHC is comprised of two sections, the Strategic Cyber Investigations (SCI) section, which focuses on cybercrime investigations, and the Digital Evidence and Forensics Innovation (DETI)section, which handles the physical support aspects of cyber and digital media investigations. Both sections are a part of the South Florida Cyber Crimes Task Force (SFCCTF), as well as being fully integrated with the United States Secret Service (USSS).

Strategic Cyber Investigations (SCI) Section
Jordan P. Fried
Lieutenant

Cyber Crime Investigations (CCI) Unit
Bridget M. Doyle
Sergeant 

In response to the emerging popularity in the use of cryptocurrencies for positive personal gains, there has been a similar increase in the use of cryptocurrency for criminal purposes. The Cyber Crime Investigations unit investigates crimes such as fraud, extortion, investment and romance scams, where cryptocurrency was used. In addition to leading those investigations, the highly trained Cyber Crime Investigations unit assists other bureaus and districts within the Miami-Dade Police Department when their cases lead them to any use of cryptocurrency and/or any hardware or software used to facilitate these cryptocurrency related crimes, to increase their abilities to locate a subject.

Network Intrusion (NITRO) Unit
Christopher J. Rodriguez
Sergeant 

Detectives assigned to the Network Intrusion (NITRO) unit primarily investigate unauthorized network intrusions both locally, and alongside our partners within the United States Secret Service. A network intrusion is the act of executing unauthorized actions against an information system and/or its resources. Attacks can span multiple networks and thousands of systems. An intrusion consists of multiple phases: reconnaissance, attack, entrenchment and extraction.

NITRO detectives also investigate other highly complex crimes involving ransomware and malware, as well as business e-mail compromises and subscriber identity module (SIM) swaps.

Internet Crimes Against Children
Robert J. Phillips
Sergeant

The Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force Program was developed in 1998 in response to the increasing number of children and teenagers using the internet and other technology, the proliferation of child sexual abuse images available electronically, and the heightened online activity by predators seeking unsupervised contact with potential underage victims.

The ICAC Program is a national network of 61 coordinated task forces representing more than 4,500 federal, state, and local law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies. These agencies are engaged in both proactive and reactive investigations, forensic examinations, and criminal prosecutions. By helping state and local agencies develop effective, sustainable responses to online child victimization – including responses to child sexual abuse material (Contraband Images), the ICAC Program has increased law enforcement’s capacity to combat technology- facilitated crimes against children at every level.

Because arrests alone cannot resolve the problem of technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation, the ICAC Program is also dedicated to training law enforcement personnel, prosecutors and other professionals working in the ICAC field, as well as educating parents, youth, and the community about the potential dangers of online activity including online child victimization.

Digital Evidence and Forensic Innovation (DETI) Section
Daniel Causey
Lieutenant 

Digital Forensic Unit
Christopher George
Sergeant

The Digital Forensic Unit (DFU) provides a variety of digital forensic laboratory and crime scene support services to the greater municipal, state, and federal law enforcement agencies of Miami-Dade County. The Unit provides objective digital forensic laboratory examination services, crime scene response services (in matters involving digital evidence), and digital network forensic services.

The Unit provides objective examination services on digital evidence seized pursuant to administrative investigations. They provide data recovery services to the MDPD during incidents of catastrophic failure and/or data corruption. They are an integral part of the critical incident response team for the Miami-Dade County Information Technology Department, Enterprise Security Office. It provides consultation services and education to the investigators of Miami-Dade County, as well as for the Offices of the State Attorney, United States Attorney, MDPD Legal Bureau, and the County Attorney's office.

The DFU has a shared laboratory with the United States Secret Service, providing digital forensic services for the South Florida Cyber Crimes Task Force, the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and our federal partners pursuant to Memorandums of Understanding existing between the task forces and the MDPD.

Video Forensic Unit
Edmund K. Winter
Sergeant

The Video Forensic Unit (VFU) provides support services in the form of multimedia acquisition, forensic video analysis, comparison analysis, image enhancement, video/audio enhancement, video/audio transcoding, media release preparation, reverse projection, expert witness testimony in the aforementioned, and any other matter directly related to multimedia evidence as deemed by the unit supervisor.

The intricacies of processing multimedia evidence necessitate well-defined and standardized procedures to facilitate the unit’s operations. Unit personnel require thorough specialized knowledge of the appropriate procedures to be efficient and effective in the fulfillment of responsibilities and obligations to the Miami-Dade Police Department and other members of the law enforcement community.

Technical Operations Unit
Elvis O. Abreu
Sergeant

The Technical Operations Unit (TOU) provides support services in the form of covert multimedia acquisition, forensic video analysis, comparison analysis, image enhancement, video/audio enhancement, video/audio transcoding, media release preparation, reverse projection, expert witness testimony in the aforementioned, and any other matter directly related to multimedia evidence as deemed by the unit supervisor.