Cyber Crime team at Bedfordshire Police gets a boost as Police and Crime Commissioner invests in a fourth triage van to speed up investigations

The Bedfordshire Police team that tackles cyber crime - including child abuse - is set to benefit from another triage van to help speed up investigations

Bedfordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Festus Akinbusoye met with the Cyber team earlier this week.

The Cyber Hub specialises in Digital Forensics, Cyber Crime Investigation and Internet Child Abuse Investigation Team (ICAIT).

In 2018 its team was the first in the country to have a vehicle dedicated to triaging digital media devices to help speed up the process of investigating cyber crime.

Bedfordshire Police currently has three cyber vans and the PCC has invested in a fourth after immediately seeing the benefits.

The Commissioner said “My priority is the safety of our residents and I am committed to equip our Officers with all the tools they need to do exactly that.

"This is why I am delighted to invest in another Cyber Triage Van for our Cyber Crime Team as part of their work to keep our communities safer”.

The Cyber Vans are a high-tech mobile lab allowing officers to have a discreet location to investigate devices and analyse digital data, reducing the need to bring items back to police stations for investigation.

Acting Inspector Peter Ward said “The PCC investment in Beds Police Cyber Triage Vans enables specialist digital investigators, with world leading equipment to be at scene within the golden hour.

"With the introduction of the fourth van, we will be increasing our capability to attend multiple scenes simultaneously.

"This model has over the last few years enabled us to reduce the digital device backlog by over 80 per cent to a sustainable level with eight months, (which provided an evidence base to support PCC funding for a fourth van), specifically with computer backlogs reducing from a year to a month.”

The triaging out of non-evidential devices at scene, and targeting suspect devices at the earliest opportunity has enabled interviewing officers to elicit an increase in anticipated guilty plea cases, enabling swift justice for victims, and maximising value for money.