Notice: Now Available FieldSearch for Mactintosh (October 2008)

Version 3.0 Released May 2008

About 70 percent of all sex offenders are placed on probation nationwide, and most have access to the Internet. The management and monitoring of sex offenders' computer use is important for many reasons. First, it can alert authorities to a new crime such as possession of child pornography. Second, it can provide proper supervision and containment of the offenders by reinforcing treatment prohibitions against access to sexual material and by reducing community risk by increasing the offender's perception of containment. Lastly, monitoring computer use is essential to help the treatment agency understand the offender. Conducting an examination of the offender's computer early in supervision provides the officer and the treatment agency with valuable information regarding the offender's sexual interest and intensity. Therefore, effective management of the offender's computer use requires a thorough understanding of what to look for and how to find it.

To assist community corrections agencies in this effort, the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center-Rocky Mountain (NLECTC-Rocky Mountain) created Field Search software. The Center developed Field Search for use by agencies as part of an overall strategy to gather computer use information to diagnose, treat, monitor, and manage the sex offender in the community. Field Search is designed specifically to help nontechnical probation and parole officers quickly and efficiently search an offenders' computer and create a detailed report of their findings. It should be noted that Field Search is NOT a forensic software application. It is designed as a fast and user-friendly investigation and management tool for field agents not trained in computer forensics. This software is provided free of charge to community corrections agencies. However, Field Search should be approved for use and supported by your agency's policies and procedures before it is used in the field.

System Requirements

• Windows® ME, 2000, XP (product will run on some editions of '98SE)
• 128MB RAM
• VGA or better
• FS-Mac runs under Macintosh OS X
  

Features

Click here to learn more about Field Search's features and view screenshots.

Training

NLECTC-Rocky Mountain provides a free 2-day training program for community corrections practitioners entitled Managing Sex Offender's Computer Use. The learning objectives of the program are as follows:

• Describe five ways offenders access illicit content on the Internet.
• Locate Windows'® forensic artifacts, conduct text and image searches, and recover browser history records.
• Effectively use the field examination software tools, including Field Search, distributed free to each class participant.
• Produce and export a complete report on a field examination.
• Design a best-fit approach to field management of offenders' computers in compliance with all applicable law.
• Construct model computer court-ordered usage conditions.

NLECTC-Rocky Mountain has limited funding available to bring this important training to agencies across the country. For more information on the training, please contact Joe Russo at Joe.Russo@nlectc-rm.org.

This project was supported by Cooperative Agreement No. 2005-IJ-CX-K001 awarded by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expresses in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Justice.