A shortage of investigative and security expertise is catching the eye of former government officials ready to move into the private sector. Add to the growing list Christopher Ryan, a former prosecutor at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.

Ryan, who was assistant DA before becoming chief of violent criminal enterprises at the Manhattan DA Office, will join investigative firm K2 Intelligence as a managing director in its strategic risk and security practice after more than two decades serving as a public prosecutor.

Legaltech News caught up with Ryan to discuss his work as a prosecutor, including how he pioneered the use of social media evidence in gun-related cases, and how he intends to continue the work he did at the Manhattan DA while in the private sector.

LTN: Why did you choose to move to the private sector?

Christopher Ryan: In 20 years at the DA's office, I got to do just about everything that a prosecutor can do, including the trial, investigative and managerial aspects of the job. When I decided it was time to find a new challenge in the private sector, I was looking for a firm with the same ethical standards, and I have found that in K2 Intelligence.

What I've done over the last 20 years has been addressing problems that already happened; there is not a whole lot of preventive measures you take in the DA's office, as much as you try to prevent things. In the private sector, you have the ability to work with clients and hopefully try to prevent problems from arising in the first place.

What do you hope to accomplish at K2 Intelligence?

As a prosecutor, I had the opportunity to work with municipal corporations and private sector stakeholders across the country, particularly relating to the physical security of large public housing developments, which is a challenge in every city. I hope to further engage with state and local governments on these same issues of public safety.

Certainly, I'm also interested in continuing my work in the anti-gun violence sphere, which has been an important focus of my professional life for the past 20 years. There was a time not too long ago that gun violence was solely the concern of law enforcement. Obviously, that is no longer the case. Every private enterprise—including schools, malls, office buildings, industrial parks, hospitals, houses of worship, large multinational corporations and small businesses—is now vulnerable to the threat of gun violence from intruders or rouge insiders.

What's the biggest security threat you believe that enterprises today underestimate or ignore?

The biggest mistake being made today is not having a well-rehearsed business continuity and crisis plan which has been developed and tested by experienced security professionals.

How did you pioneer the use of social media evidence at the Manhattan DA Office?

When we first started mining social media, it was the Myspace era; we were really the first ones to start using this type of information. When we started, we weren't using anything that really wasn't readily available. We looked at different sites where people were posting evidence but we were doing it in a very sort of manual way. We weren't using any sort of technology to scour the internet.

With the advent of social media, we found that investigative targets, like everyone else, were regularly using social media to publicly chronicle their lives, often providing evidence of association amongst conspirators that otherwise would have required lengthy covert investigation. We also found that criminal targets regularly posted photos of themselves on social media with guns, drugs, cash and other contraband. We were very surprised that if you were a drug dealer, you would put photographs of yourself holding a gun and a big wad of cash on the internet.

But I think it's just a generational type of thing. When you have people in their 20s, they are just so attune to advertising the day-to-day aspect of their life on social media. And if you are a drug dealer, you tend to do the same thing.

What was the most interesting case you prosecuted at the Manhattan DA Office?

I'm most proud of our work in the area of firearms trafficking. In my years as chief of the violent crime unit, our cases took over 2,000 firearms off the streets of NYC and we indicted over 70 individuals on gun trafficking charges. In our minds, every gun is a homicide waiting to happen. We reached deep into Southern source states and prosecuted people who had never set foot in NYC, but who we knew were providing gun traffickers with firearms and ammunition that were bound for the streets of NYC.

On a personal note, the homicide of Leandra Ramos, which led to the passage of Leandra's Law, making driving drunk with a child in the car an automatic felony on the first offense. This is a case I will always remember.