Law Enforcement Officials Advised to Embrace Technology

Public-private partnerships, innovative technical solutions and training are essential for law enforcement officials to fight technology-enabled crime.

This was the view of Superintendent Mark White of the Barbados Police Service’s Criminal Investigations Department (CID) as he addressed the graduates of the Regional Security System’s Digital Evidence Course, during the closing ceremony, recently.

Superintendent White pointed out that law enforcement officials did not have adequate access to the technological devices and programmes which were necessary in combatting emerging criminal trends, but suggested that “a harmonised and co-ordinated approach towards training and capacity building across the Caribbean” could address that issue.

“A critical factor for success is therefore to develop working relationships with private industry and academia which often have access to data, resources, technology and expertise that is simply unavailable to law enforcement,” he maintained.

The Police Superintendent stressed that law enforcement officials must embrace technology as the criminal landscape continues to evolve with new and emerging illegal activities.

“It is clear that any developments in the use of technology by criminals must be matched and countered by an appropriate and effective law enforcement response... Cybercrime, as a relatively new crime area, is a good example of this, and poses many challenges peculiar to that crime area,” he stated.

Mr. White advised the course participants that prevention was also an important technique that could be utilised, and could only be successful if potential victims were aware of the possible threats with which they could be faced.

“Simply raising awareness of these threats, and educating potential victims, can have significant impact on the success of malicious actors. This is again, particularly pertinent in cyberspace where a little knowledge can protect victims from attacks such as phishing, malware or sexual extortion,” he outlined.

The CID official further called for policy makers and regulators to include law enforcement officials when making law-related decisions that they may offer “guidance and recommendations regarding the needs and requirements of law enforcement in order to be able to continue effectively combatting crime where these technologies are involved.”