Gayle Warren’s journey into law enforcement is as unique as the role she holds today in digital forensics. Starting with a degree in journalism from the University of Arizona, Gayle never envisioned a career in law enforcement. However, her curiosity and drive led her to unexpected places – starting with a ridealong with the Oro Valley (Ariz.) Police Department that eventually set her on a different path.
That ridealong sparked her interest in K-9 units, and soon after, she was documenting the life of a K-9 handler for her journalism work. That experience gave her the first glimpse into the world of law enforcement, planting a seed for her future.
While Warren initially pursued journalism, her career quickly shifted when she found a position as a crime scene specialist for the Tucson (Ariz.) Police Department. Combining her photography skills with a natural attention to detail honed through her journalism background, she quickly excelled in her role.
Today, Warren’s work extends far beyond video and digital forensics. She is the proud handler of Zona, Arizona’s first electronic detection K-9. The idea for Zona originated from a desire to provide comfort in a high-stress environment, but soon expanded into something much bigger when Warren learned about K-9s that could detect hidden electronic devices. With Zona by her side, Warren now assists in everything from child exploitation cases to high-profile investigations, proving time and time again how valuable her unique skill set is in solving complex cases.
Below, Warren shares her journey from journalism to law enforcement, her experiences working with digital forensics and the impact of having an electronic detection K-9 like Zona in her unit.
Can you tell me about your journey into law enforcement?
I graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in journalism. While I was in my last year of college, I was writing an article on the local law enforcement agencies. I went on a ridealong with the closest law enforcement agency to my hometown, which was Oro Valley (Ariz.) Police Department. I rode with a K-9 officer and I remember asking him how I could become a K-9 handler. He got all excited, saying, “Go to the police academy.” I wasn’t sure if that was my path.
Ultimately, I started a career out of college doing dispatch for the Oro Valley Police Department. That wasn’t something I felt inspired to do, so I moved on, using my journalism degree to work at the assignment desk for a local news agency. While working there part-time, I found a position with the Tucson Police Department in 2005 as a crime scene specialist. I photographed crime scenes, collected trace evidence and latent fingerprints – that’s where I started my career.
Then we saw a shift in technology, with everything turning digital. Another co-worker and I had the opportunity to start training in video forensics. We started the digital forensics unit in 2006, and since then, it has grown and developed. Eventually, we were put into the crime lab – where I currently work as a forensic scientist in the digital forensics unit.
Can you walk me through a typical day in your role as a digital forensic examiner? How do you prioritize your tasks, and what kinds of cases or challenges do you usually encounter?
When I come in, I usually have a game plan, like I’m going to tackle a report or process a device. But almost every day that changes. It depends on the priorities, and we always try to look at the priorities of cases coming in for our investigators. Digital forensics for us really encompasses computer forensics, mobile device forensics and digital video recovery. That’s what we do here in the forensic electronic media unit in the crime lab where I work.
On a day-to-day basis, we primarily get phones. What that looks like is we use our forensic tools to extract data from the device, then we generate a report with all the data and send it to our investigators. That’s one aspect. We’re acquiring data from cellphones, but we’re also acquiring and doing previews of media, like computers, micro SD cards or USB drives. We acquire the data and try to get it to investigators as quickly as possible to help in their investigations. We also do digital video recovery. On any given day, I might be processing a DVR that was in evidence or we might have received it via a search warrant
I focus on mobile device analysis cases. That means we look at the data and try to build a timeline, showing who might be using the device. Primarily, we focus on Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC), looking for evidence of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
Our focus is to determine possession, acknowledgment and who was using or downloading the material. This process takes a lot longer, so multitasking in digital forensics is essential. We have things coming in that need immediate attention while also working on longer analysis cases, where we piece together different artifacts within the evidence.
In the video below, Warren delves into her role as a digital forensic examiner and how her K-9 partner, Zona, helps uncover hidden electronics in investigations. Hear her discuss the impact of their work on solving complex cases.
Can you describe the process of analyzing evidence in ICAC cases and share any examples where your work had a significant impact on the investigation?
Our ICAC detectives have a very short turnaround. When we go out to serve search warrants, they have to select media files – whether it’s video files, photographs or images – and present them for indictment. When I get the case, I’m presented with 10 to 20 indictment files that they’re going to charge on, and my role is to determine what I can tell you about those files.
I had a case where some of the files were really challenging to figure out where they came from. Sometimes it’s straightforward, like files being in the downloads folder where I can easily provide the date and time they were downloaded. But some artifacts are harder to track. In this particular case, I had video files stored in a specific location and I needed to determine whether there was user interaction. The files were in a folder where they were viewable only if the phone was offline, so I was able to confirm that the user had to manually place them there.
I’m fortunate to work in an accredited crime lab, which gives us opportunities to do research and testing. In that case, I downloaded the specific application used to store the files and tested different ways of placing media in the app. Through that process, I was able to conclusively say that the user had placed those videos in that folder, which was critical for the case.
In another case, I found child sexual abuse material in a unique folder location. Technology changes constantly, so I did a lot of research and worked with a mobile phone company to determine that those files could only appear in that folder if they had been stored in the phone’s photo folder and then used in a third-party application. Even though the files were no longer in the photos folder, we could show that the user had moved them and used them in another app, which was essential for proving user interaction.
How has the technology in digital forensics evolved over your 20-year career?
I started working with video in 2006 and back then it was primarily analog. We were dealing with things like VHS tapes and using VCR players to review footage. Now, everything has gone digital and there was a huge learning curve during that transition. For instance, when we moved from analog to digital, we were dealing with cameras that had maybe 1.7 megapixels and the quality was terrible – we couldn’t see much at all.
Everything keeps getting better. The challenge is keeping up with the sheer amount of data. Phones used to have small datasets – just contacts, calendars and call logs. Now, they’re mini-computers packed with tons of data and we’re constantly adapting to handle that.
How did you become involved in handling an electronic detection K-9, and what was the process of bringing Zona into your unit?
In 2019, we started talking about the idea of getting a wellness dog for our unit because of the type of work we do. The idea was to have a canine that could bring some comfort and joy to the five of us on the team. I researched it, trying to figure out where to go and how to make it happen. But when COVID hit, everything got put on the back burner since no one was traveling or doing much at the time.
Then, in 2022, our ICAC unit came over and mentioned Todd Jordan from Jordan Detection K-9. He was training dogs to find electronic devices and a sergeant said they didn’t have the capacity to add that responsibility to any of their investigators. But my ears perked up when I heard about it because I’m a dog lover and I could see the need for a K-9 like that.
We’ve had cases where we had to search houses multiple times, looking in ceiling tiles and tearing things apart to find hidden devices. If we’d had a K-9 that could sniff out electronics, the dog could have alerted us to it right away. They don’t need to see the device – they can smell it.
We were fortunate to receive help from Operation Underground Railroad (OUR), a nonprofit focused on combating human trafficking and child exploitation. They offered a grant to pay for the K-9 and handler training. Eventually, I was selected to be Zona’s handler. Zona was a year and a half old when I got her and she’s a yellow English Labrador.
How does Zona find electronic devices and can you share any memorable experiences where she played a crucial role in a search?
There’s a unique chemical sprayed during the manufacturing process of all electronic devices that store and transmit data. This chemical is designed to prevent the devices from overheating. Zona can detect that chemical, whether it’s on something as large as a server full of hard drives, computer towers, laptops, or as small as hidden cameras, USB drives, tracking devices, SIM cards or even a micro SD card, which is about the size of your pinky fingernail.
One of my favorite experiences happened during a search warrant for a man who had been incarcerated for hands-on offenses with a child and possession of child sexual abuse material. After he got out early, our federal partners at National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) sent us a tip about images being downloaded at his location. So, our team went in with Zona, and the sergeant was adamant that Zona and I go straight into the suspect’s room.
As we searched, Zona jumped up on the bed, dove under the pillow and wouldn’t move. When I asked her to show me, she lifted her head and looked at me, with the pillow balanced on her head. Then she dove back down under the pillow, holding her position. Sure enough, when I lifted the pillow, there was a cellphone hidden underneath.
Gayle Warren training with her K-9, Zona.
Courtesy photo
Gayle Warren training with her K-9, Zona.
Courtesy photo
Gayle Warren training with her K-9, Zona.
Courtesy photo
Gayle Warren training with her K-9, Zona.
Courtesy photo
Gayle Warren training with her K-9, Zona.
Courtesy photo
Gayle Warren training with her K-9, Zona.
Courtesy photo
Later in that same search, Zona alerted to a shelf on the wall. Not wanting to over-present, I walked her away, searched other areas and came back to the shelf from a different angle. She hit on it again, and this time, she gave her little whine – her way of saying, “Please believe me!” I pushed on the shelf and it easily lifted off the wall. Behind it, we found another phone with a battery pack, hidden by the suspect, with over 600 images of child sexual abuse material. It was one of Zona’s first big finds, and without her, we wouldn’t have thought to take that shelf off the wall.
Zona has been invaluable. She’s worked on more than 80 search warrants and consent searches, and in all but one case, she’s found something we missed. Zona was originally trained as a service animal, but she’s a service dog dropout because she has too much drive. This is her second career and she’s found her true calling in electronic detection. She is also the first electronic detection K-9 in the state of Arizona, which gave us a little bit of bragging rights.
What value does an electronic detection K-9 bring to investigations and how can others get involved or support similar initiatives?
I think anyone working in digital forensics or dealing with child exploitation cases knows that after we leave a scene, there’s often that lingering question: “Did we get everything?”
Having an electronic detection K-9 provides peace of mind. When you run a K-9 through a scene, you know that you’ve searched thoroughly, even finding things that might not seem significant at first but could be crucial later. These dogs bring that extra assurance and they are one of the most valuable tools you can add to your mission when you’re out in the field.
And it’s not just for child sexual abuse cases. These K-9s can assist in homicides, human trafficking, domestic violence, adult crimes and even surreptitious recording cases.
