Feature: Police 'need cybercrime training'

Police officers need further training to handle digital evidence and tackle the growing problem of cybercrime, a new report has said.

The joint report, by the Institute for Public Policy Research and information and e-commerce lobby EURIM, was presented to the House of Commons yesterday.

It said there is a huge backlog of e-crimes and a serious shortage of skills to deal with them. It is increasingly common for investigations to include the handling of digital evidence, such as the analysis of computer hard drives.

The report warns that victims of e-crime could take action into their own hands if police skills are not improved. More liaison between the police and industry experts is crucial, it recommends.

David Harrington, secretary general of Institute for Communications Arbitration and Forensics (ICAF) and chairman of the EURIM working party, said: "One of the comments that most impressed me during the work leading up to publication was made by a senior policeman. He pointed out that virtually every crime committed these days has a digital element."

"We have around 140,000 police officers in the UK. And yet barely 1,000 of them have been trained to handle digital evidence at the basic level and fewer than 250 are currently with Computer Crime Units or have higher level forensic skills. No wonder we have forensics backlogs of 6 to 12 months and reluctance on the part of most local forces to launch any new investigation.

A new "Skills for Justice" Council has been proposed by the ICAF as the body most suitable to oversee the changes needed.

April 1 2004: LINX calls for more resources to tackle e-crime

www.ippr.org.uk

www.eurim.org

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