Police wants volunteer officers to fight cybercrime

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IT industry workers have been called upon to help the newly formed Police Central e-crime Unit (PCeU), by volunteering their skills to fight cybercrime.

Joint architect of the PCeU and Metropolitan Police Superintendent Charlie McMurdie said at Infosecurity 2009 that they would take on volunteers from industry to work with them.

In a similar way to how Community Police Officers are allowed to ‘pound the beat’, the tech volunteers would be go through a process which would allow them to use their skills and capabilities to come and work with the unit on a part-time basis.

She said: “We already have some members, either sponsored by their own company or at their own volition.”

People from the IT industry could also become ‘Special Constables’, either with sponsorship from a company or in their own time.

She said: “Two days a month, you get full police warranted powers, the same [as] any law enforcement officer – you get trained, get a year’s probation.”

Instead of normal policing duties like directing traffic and crowds in uniform, McMurdie said the PCeU was now using specialist tech Special Constables.

“The first programmer that was in was in the art and antiques world, where we recruited specifically people who were proficient in Egyptology or spoke 15 languages," she said.

“We’ve got a couple of inspectors and sergeants who are experts in their various forms of IT software or computer skills.”

The Police Central e-Crime unit recently worked with the financial industry to make its first arrests.

IT PRO has extensively covered the Police Central e-Crime unit from its beginnings at last year's Infosec, and its call for businesses to join in the fight against e-crime.

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