More money to fight computer crime
Date: June 01, 2006Source: metrowestdailynews.com
To effectively go undercover and nab predators, "I need more bodies at this stage of game," said Medford Police Detective Lt. John McLean, officer in charge of the NEMLEC Computer Crime Unit. "You need bodies to do the work."
The Computer Crime Unit has a staff of three officers from the Medford Police Department and two assigned staff through NEMLEC on a rotating basis.
NEMLEC is the North Eastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council, a consortium of 46 law enforcement agencies from Middlesex and Essex counties, including the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Department.
"Police departments are precluded from being proactive," he said. Staff need to be trained to go online undercover with the proper computer hardware and software in order to protect their identities, McLean said.
"They need to be technically and tactically prepared for that kind of stuff," he said. "The reality is, what I suggest is every city and town in the commonwealth should have the capacity to go undercover and initially respond to cyber incidences to get the ball rolling. That would be the ideal scenario."
If more funding and staff were possible, the unit’s caseload would "increase dramatically and significantly," he said, which could pose a problem for the courts.
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