LAW ENFORCEMENT
Rank and file officers must be more tech-savvy
Rank and file police officers need to be more tech-savvy to fight cyber-crime, according to a new report.
As crime changes, police forces must respond to the new digital borders, argues think tank Reform.
Technological developments in recent decades – most notably the growth of the Internet – have digitised traditional forms of crime, providing new opportunities for fraudsters, sex offenders and drug dealers, the report says.
Technology also creates a new front line of crime, which previously wouldn’t have existed. The implications of the fourth industrial revolution are yet to be fully understood, but today, almost half of crime relies on digital technology, and that statistic is highly likely to rise.
Law enforcement agencies must address this demand. Some will be met by central agencies, including the National Crime Agency and GCHQ, but much will be addressed by the 43 police forces across England and Wales. The greatest assets forces possess are the 198,684 officers and staff they employ.
The latest assessment by think tank Reform – which is authored by Alexander Hitchcock, Ruby Holmes and Emilie Sundorph – focuses on whether this workforce is currently fit to meet digital demand.
To produce the report, Reform conducted interviews with over 40 police officers, members of police staff, government officials and experts, visited five forces, held a focus group and analysed public data.
The report finds that a range of changes are required to make forces fit to fight digital crime. Different parts of the workforce will need to change in different ways, suggests the think tank.
But, the whole workforce requires better equipment, a better understanding of digital demand and crime-fighting techniques and new, less hierarchical, working patterns.
Police forces should make better use of secondments and introduce ‘on demand’ cyber volunteer units to help fight the most sophisticated types of crime (such as cyber attacks), the report adds.
