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EPD chief gives update on GrayKey system in Etowah

SHANE DUNCAN

Staff Writer

The Etowah Police Department has acquired the GrayKey System to help with future investigations into various forms of crime.

The GrayKey system is a tool that will allow the Etowah Police Department to extract encrypted data from electronic devices, including cellphones, laptops, desktops and other forms of data saving equipment.

Etowah Chief of Police Scott Hicks expressed his thoughts on his department receiving the equipment.

“We are really excited,” Hicks said. “This is so much more advanced than regular systems and now we don’t have to rely on any other department.”

Previously, the department would have had to cross a lot of red tape, including dropping off the electronic devices at different agencies for data extraction.

“This will help in a lot of different ways through various types of investigations ranging from drug trafficking to

child sex crimes,” Hicks noted. “We can track just about anything.”

Looking towards the future, the department would like to extend uses of their system with neighboring law enforcement agencies, however the details surrounding that partnership haven’t been fully developed yet.

“We are still throwing some things around with that at the moment,” he noted. “We aren’t sure if things with other departments will be on a case by case basis or if we would do something like a subscription, but it would be a good way for us to help out other departments.”

At the moment, the department has encountered a slight issue involving the GrayKey system.

“The internet service at the department is one thing that we are working on,” Hicks said. “It takes so much gig speed to operate this thing and what we are working with right now is not compatible with it, so that is one thing that we are currently working on.”

Hicks hopes this will become an integral part to the Etowah Police Department.

“We are excited to have this system in our utility bank and hopefully it will help everybody around us too,” he expressed. “This could really help solve crimes involving drugs, children and more so we just hope that this will be a great tool for everybody.”

The purchase of the system came about after last month’s city commission meeting when Etowah City Manager Russ Blair sought permission from the Etowah City Commission for the department to purchase the equipment.

Additionally, during the September City Commission meeting, Blair informed the commission of some of the possibilities they were looking into involving the use of the system by other agencies.

“We are going to look into the possibility of entering this into a local agreement with other small agencies that want to use this system but may not be able to purchase it themselves,” Blair expressed. “It may be on a per use basis or a monthly subscription basis but we are going to work through that because we have one or two others that might be interested in partnering with us.”

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