Computer crime fighting gets a boost with donation
Finding the evidence in computer crime cases starts getting a little easier for Lake County detectives next week.
American Hotel Registry in Vernon Hills will be donating a $5,000 supercomputer known as FRED-L to the cyber crime unit of the Lake County state's attorney's office.
FRED-L, for Forensic Recovery of Evidence Device-Laptop, is a device computer investigators use to discover what is inside another computer.
Assistant State's Attorney Patricia Fix said the machine can tap into a suspect computer and read the hard drive for an initial inspection, then make an exact duplicate of the hard drive for more detailed investigation.
The copy allows investigators to thoroughly search a hard drive for evidence without risking the destruction of anything needed for court.
"This device will greatly improve our ability to investigate complex cases and prepare them for court," Fix said. "All of us in Lake County law enforcement are fortunate to have American Hotel Registry on our side."
The computer will be turned over to the unit at a training seminar on investigation of computer crimes the company is holding on Thursday.
Always hustling: A good lawyer is always on the lookout for new clients, but at least one member of the bar was a little too aggressive recently.
The Lake County sheriff's office reports that a pair of deputies pulled over Gregory Lawler of Franklin Park near the intersection of routes 173 and 59 around 5 p.m. on Sept. 1.
The report says Lawler was operating a motorcycle without safety glasses and, as deputies spoke with him in the parking lot of a pizza restaurant, the case against Lawler grew.
The deputies discovered Lawler had been drinking, he did not have a license to operate a motorcycle, his insurance had expired and he had a small amount of marijuana in his pocket.
As the deputies were placing Lawler under arrest, the report says an attorney -- who they did not recognize -- walked up and tried to give Lawler his business card.
This sat none to well with the deputies, who believed they had staked a claim to Lawler's undivided attention, and they told the lawyer to go away.
The lawyer persisted and gave Lawler the business card, which was "disposed of" as soon as the lawyer walked away, says the deputy who wrote the report.
Waller elected: State's Attorney Michael Waller has been elected to the board of governors of the Illinois Appellate Prosecutor's Office.
By vote of his fellow state's attorneys, Waller is now one of 10 people responsible for overseeing the office that handles all the appeals filed throughout the state.
The office also sponsors training programs for prosecutors and provides special prosecutors in cases in which state's attorney's offices have conflicts.
"It really is a great honor to be on the board," Waller said. "Being recognized by your peers is always something special."