Rise in digital device investigations by police

Police Commissioner Alison Hernandez (left) said courses run in Plymouth were helping bridge the gap in demands for digital forensic officers

More than 3,000 digital devices containing the equivalent of two million movies' worth of data were investigated by a police force last year.

Devon and Cornwall Police's specialist Digital Forensics Unit (DFU) said the devices had more than two petabytes - 2,000 terabytes - of data involved in offences which included drugs, child abuse, murder and terrorism.

The force said the number of mobile phones investigated had risen by 200% over the past two years and the volume of data had doubled over three years.

Alison Hernandez, Devon and Cornwall's Police and Crime Commissioner, said more digital forensic officers were needed to keep up with demand.

Hernandez said courses at Plymouth Marjon University were helping bridge the gap as the "ever-increasing expansion of technology" continued.

The university updated its criminology and forensic courses with the introduction of a forensic investigation degree-level course, along with a digital forensics module.

"Digital evidence plays a significant role in the majority of police investigations and is vital in helping arrest and convict offenders and give victims justice. The volume of that work is growing all the time," Hernandez said.

"It was wonderful to see how the university has responded to this demand by creating a new course specifically aimed at boosting recruitment numbers within forensics, particularly digital forensics."