The iCrimeFighterCV app for Android was designed by two police sergeants, Mario Galasso and Jeremy Rausch. Their development company, At-Scene, markets smart-phone apps for iPhone and Android.

I tested iCrimeFighterCV—the CV stands for Civilian Version. There's also a law enforcement version. This app allows field investigators to keep accurate notes while they work a case. The app is simple to use and you can easily add photos, videos, notes, and a to-do list to your case.

To create a case from the home screen, tap View/Edit Case. You'll be prompted to provide a case number and the type of case you are investigating. You can either type in an address or allow the phone's GPS to locate the address of the incident.

Once the case is created, you open the case to add a photograph with the touch of a button. You can add an interview. This function is not what you think. Pushing the button opens a box where you put in the interviewee's name and a quick note. Push a "record" button, and your phone captures a voice recording of the interview. This function is only as good as the voice recorder on your phone.

You can also create a "To-Do" for your investigation through this app and capture video if you need it. The most interesting piece of this app is the Mistral Narcotics Test function. Opening this will provide you not only instructions on how to use this type of narcotics test kit, but it provides color photographs of positive tests. You can archive old investigations/cases to your SD card with the simple touch of a button. Lastly, you can e-mail or upload your investigation to Dropbox or other online storage that you may use.

Overall, this is a useful app for organizing your investigations in the field. The difference between the CV and LE version of the app is the CV version has a limitation of adding two maximum cases. If you need to add more cases, then you need to upgrade to the LE version.

Tim Meacham is a police officer for a private university in central Virginia. He has a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Liberty University and a master's in criminal justice from the University of Cincinnati.