ACNS Network Security Manager Joe Budzyn said his department and campus police often work together but rarely interact to educate each other about important investigation processes.

“We’re focusing on how the police respond through the criminal system so we can better interact with them in a particular case,” Budzyn said.

“What we’re trying to do is come up with a common language so that we can better handle cases jointly.”

MSU police Lt. Jennifer Brown, who supervises the department’s Computer Forensics Unit, said the technological advances of cell phones, mp3 players and smart cards have created new tools for crime beyond the typical laptop or desktop computer.

“As technology becomes more frequent, the crimes are becoming more frequent,” Brown said. “If we have a computer crime on campus, we’re working with ACNS to investigate those crimes. Once they figure out that something criminal has happened, that’s when they call us in.”

Brown said the cooperation between the two departments could help pin down the suspects arrested for the recent vandalizations of vending machines on campus.

“We’ve also recovered evidence in which they used cell phones to text message back-and-forth as they were committing the crimes,” she said. “They deleted those text messages — however, our computer forensics department has the ability to recover those deleted texts.”

MSU Detective Lt. Doug Monette said that although the police and ACNS operate under separate buildings, they’re essentially working toward the same goal.

“We’re trying to better utilize all our resources here to provide a better service to our community,” Monette said.