Officials in law enforcement from Lethbridge, situated in the province of Alberta, Canada, have unveiled that the Lethbridge Police Service (LPS) is now utilizing Chainalysis blockchain forensics software. According to local reports, LPS has acquired the capacity to trace cryptocurrency transactions, enabling them to ascertain the locations where the funds have been deposited.
Lethbridge Police Service Embraces Blockchain Surveillance Technology
Police in Lethbridge, Canada have told the press that investigators at the station utilize Chainalysis’ Reactor blockchain surveillance software. The Lethbridge Herald discussed the situation with sergeant Kevin Talbot of the Lethbridge Police Service (LPS) Economic Crimes Unit. Talbot has been trained in blockchain analysis, which is considered a significant advancement for a smaller force like the LPS, the report said.
The report notes that technology allows the LPS to trace transactions, identify suspects, and determine where funds have been deposited, even though prosecuting the scammers is still a challenge. Talbot discloses that it allows the police force to write production orders to gather information about the account holder.
“We’ll get to the point where we have a transaction data but we’re unable to trace it because it requires special programming to do these things and training. In Canada, we’re making headway,” Talbot explained to the Herald. “I will use the Chainalysis Reactor program to do the trace to an exchange. That information is then shared with an investigator who will then write a production order to obtain the information about the account holder, whether there’s funds in the account and where the funds may have been transferred out to,” added Talbot.
Sergeant Talbot acknowledged that the police force is only in the “early stages” of harnessing the Chainalysis Reactor technology, having begun to use the software just a few months ago. In the realm of tracing funds to a crypto exchange, he has enjoyed “100% success doing that,” he shared. Yet, prosecution has proven more elusive. Still, Talbot expressed optimism, believing the team will “have more success in that in the future.”
“The focus when we do these investigations is two-fold,” Talbot stated. “One we’d love to prosecute someone but often though individuals involved in this are out of country which makes it a little more difficult to prosecute, but not always – there are occasions where they’re local or at least in North America.”
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