The Cop & Mouse Game

THE COP & MOUSE GAME

Rediff, dated ?

The Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy, the centralised training institution for Indian Police Service (IPS) recruits, would introduce a full-fledged course on 'cyber crimes' for senior IPS officers next year.

The course is aimed at preparing police personnel to tackle computer-aided or computer-related crimes that are expected to surge in the emerging era of electronic commerce. The NPA has also decided to introduce a course on investigation of cyber crimes for IPS probationers from next year.

The course is meant to equip the IPS recruits for ferreting out clues as well as identifying and eliciting legally acceptable evidence in the case of computer-related crimes. On the occasion of its golden jubilee this year, the NPA would also give a personal computer to each probationer, which would be connected to the internet. All criminal and other laws would be loaded into the computers so that the IPS recruits would be able to study on their own & classroom time can be devoted mostly to group discussions & sharing of practical experience. The academy is expected to get its own leased line shortly. It would also introduce a forum for discussion on its website next year.

The NPA Assistant Director, B.S. Bawa, has been quoted as saying that police personnel are currently little aware of the gamut of cyber crimes. He says that he wants to sensitise the personnel about these technology crimes and newer & complex types of frauds in white-collar offences. He feels that it is going to be increasingly difficult for the police to check threats to intellectual property rights, invasion of privacy and all types of subterfuge in the current age of electronics if the police are not suitably educated about computers. He stressed that the development of cyber forensic science is essential for detection of computer-related crimes.