Our Commitment to Equality and the Justice Sector

The death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis Police Officer, with other officers looking on, and the subsequent events surrounding it throughout North America and now the world has given us pause for reflection.

We have had many thoughts, emotions, and questions since. What we can say definitively is that racism is real. Racism and other biases exist all over, including within the justice sector. And, justice cannot exist without equal rights and equal protections for all citizens.

Since Magnet Forensics’ founding, we have employed several former police officers and interacted positively with countless more active officers. In our hearts, we believe police officers get in to policing to make a positive impact in their community and to seek justice for all citizens.

But the institution of policing and the broader justice sector cannot rest with only these positive sentiments. We must strive to ensure that all citizens have access to justice, and trust that the police and supporting institutions are there to serve them, regardless of their race. We must look to create resilient governance structures, diverse teams and technologies that identify and root out racism and other forms of discrimination.

Magnet Forensics was founded to try to make a difference for the victims of human trafficking and child sexual exploitation. Supporting the victims of these heinous crimes was the initial motivation, but what was realized is that the advancement of digital forensics could be a structural change in the pursuit of justice. Such primary evidence can close the levels of doubt in successful convictions and exonerating the innocent.

Seek Justice and Protect the Innocent is not just a corporate moniker for Magnet Forensics. It is core to who we are. Fundamental to that pursuit is helping surface the truth.

We too cannot rest on these aspirations. Magnet Forensics is committed to continuing to look inwards to ensure we are contributing to a justice sector that serves all citizens.

Diversity in the team at Magnet Forensics is a strength and has helped us in the pursuit of our mission. For our part, we are committed to building on this diversity. We are committed to asking ourselves and our team difficult questions about our own biases and to learning about how they can be rooted out in our recruitment, operations, and the technologies we develop.

On behalf of the team at Magnet Forensics, we will be making donations to charities that support the reform of the justice system and racial equality. We also believe it is important to support police agencies that don’t have the ability to conduct timely and comprehensive digital investigations which places justice at risk. Magnet Forensics will be launching a new program to address this challenge later this year.

We stand alongside our communities, customers, and employees as we navigate these difficult times toward a more just future.

Adam Belsher (CEO) & Jad Saliba (Founder & CTO)

Note: Since this post originally appeared, Magnet Forensics’ charitable contributions have been been announced with donations being made to the Center for Policing Equity, Black Legal Action Centre, and Friendship Centres. In addition, Magnet Forensics has announced the creation of The Auxtera Project, a charitable platform to ensure justice is achieved in cases with critical digital evidence—regardless of socio-economic considerations.