Seizure of evidence

Hey there! I’ve got a question that might sound a bit silly, but honestly, nobody has ever given me a straight answer. I've seen it happen on TV a few times—the arrest of Bill Clinton really brought it to mind—where police officers seizing evidence from a suspect don't just grab the computer itself. It makes sense, right? But I just don't get why they bother hauling away the monitor, the mouse, and even the cables too. It seems like a lot of extra work, doesn't it?

Exactly...
I suppose that’s how they show everyone just how "busy" they really are. ;-)

(Did anyone else catch that moment where they were lugging Bill Clinton's TV out of there too?..) ;-)

There are plenty of people who don't seem to grasp that a monitor doesn't actually have memory 😁, but from a purely practical standpoint—it’s just easier: you plug everything in and call it a day, without having to swap cables or hunt for the right connectors.

There might be some official regulation regarding this—drot13 could probably weigh in on that...

Linda Jackson96 said:There are plenty of people who don't seem to grasp that a monitor doesn't actually have memory 😁, but from a purely practical standpoint—it’s just easier: you plug everything in and call it a day, without having to swap cables or hunt for the right connectors.

There might be some official regulation regarding this—drot13 could probably weigh in on that...

There isn't any rulebook covering this. It’s possible they assume the monitor (and the cable) has some value, so they just loot the hardware in general; I've even seen them walk off with an LCD TV, which obviously holds zero data, yet they still take it.👍👍

Ashley Stewart3 said:There isn't any rulebook covering this. It’s possible they assume the monitor (and the cable) has some value, so they just loot the hardware in general; I've even seen them walk off with an LCD TV, which obviously holds zero data, yet they still take it.👍👍

Well, thank God I wasn't the only one who clocked the television.🙂

It’s pretty clear that brighteagle24 thinks they can see right through the details—though I suppose if things were truly that massive, one might be inclined to stare, wouldn't they?

Walter Reyes5 said:Hey there! I’ve got a question that might sound a bit silly, but honestly, nobody has ever given me a straight answer. I've seen it happen on TV a few times—the arrest of Bill Clinton really brought it to mind—where police officers seizing evidence from a suspect don't just grab the computer itself. It makes sense, right? But I just don't get why they bother hauling away the monitor, the mouse, and even the cables too. It seems like a lot of extra work, doesn't it?

It isn't a foolish question at all. The issue is that according to forensic protocols, a computer must (assuming it's even technically feasible) be powered up in the exact configuration in which it was discovered. That means it needs its full set of peripherals. It looks a bit ridiculous when the investigators are hauling away monitors, keyboards, and mice, but that's just how the rules work.🤷