Where Are Digital Investigations Breaking Down?

Digital evidence is now part of nearly every investigation. The problem is no longer whether the evidence exists. The problem is whether agencies can collect, process, analyze, share, and explain it fast enough to keep a case moving.

Magnet Forensics is asking public safety professionals to share where those processes are working—and where they are not—through its Digital Investigations in Public Safety Survey.

The survey examines the challenges slowing investigations, how agencies are adapting, and where changes may be needed. Responses will be kept confidential and reported only in aggregate. Magnet will use the results to produce a report on common challenges, emerging trends, and opportunities across public safety investigations.

This is an opportunity to put real numbers behind the problems practitioners regularly discuss: growing evidence volumes, examination backlogs, staffing limitations, disconnected workflows, and the difficulty of moving digital evidence from collection through the courtroom.

The survey takes approximately 20 minutes and remains open through July 28, 2026. Participants will receive early access to the findings and may enter for a chance to win a pass to the 2027 Magnet User Summit in Austin, one of two $500 Amazon gift cards, or one of ten Magnet Forensics prize packs. Eligibility restrictions apply.

The value of any industry survey depends on who answers it. The more working practitioners who participate, the more likely the final report will reflect what is happening inside actual investigations rather than what people outside the work assume is happening.

Take the Digital Investigations in Public Safety Survey

Sponsor disclosure: Magnet Forensics is a sponsor of DFIR Training.