§ The Earl of Northeskasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2 April (WA 85) that "there is no centrally determined requirement for all officers or new recruits to be trained in information technology (IT) skills" and in the context of the establishment of the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit, how they propose to staff the Unit. [HL1624]
§ Lord Bassam of BrightonThe first staff to join the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit will undertake a two-week training course on hi-tech crime investigation 137WA prepared for the National Crime Squad by the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, beginning in April 2001.
Training courses on computer network investigation and forensic computing are being developed to train the specialists whose posts are being created with the funding made available by my right honourable friend the Home Secretary to enhance the capability of law enforcement to investigate crime where new technology is used. Home Office National Police Training is developing a new course which will be available later this year to deal specifically with the investigation of Internet crime. Training in the use of computer investigation software is also available commercially.