The States of Jersey Police have secured 320,000 euros of European Union funding for investment over the next two years to develop a small island centre of excellence network to combat the continued threat of Cyber Crime.

Although clearly not part of the EU, the Force were able to submit an umbrella bid as part of a broader Cyber Crime bid being led by Lithuania, in conjunction with 10 already established EU Centres of Excellence.

Jersey and Guernsey Police have already developed a partnership in 2015 in order to make best use of specialist skills across both islands in combating Cyber Crime.

The project will run from January 2016 for two years and will build upon the existing Police Chief Officer small island network forum, created in 2015 that included; Guernsey, Isle of Man, Gibraltar and Cyprus.

The funding will be used to establish the SINCERE (Small Islands Nations Centre of Excellence for Research and Education) centre, based on the EU model that includes, law enforcement, academia and industry. Other activities will include;

1. Conducting a threat analysis of the financial sectors of the islands and provide preventative advice to industry and law enforcement.
2. Develop a training and education framework for the law enforcement communities of the islands, recognising the requirements, unique to small jurisdictions compared to larger national centres.
3. Working with new and existing centres of excellence to ensure future networking and collaboration among the centres in developing innovative solutions in the fight against cybercrime, including establishing best practice and sharing concepts, training and products.

Cyber Crime has no boundaries or borders, so developing and investing in our infrastructure, involving not only common standards but training, research and education is necessary to protect our communities from the threat of Cyber Crime.

The Jersey High Tech Crime Unit has throughout 2015 supported 524 investigations and examined some 1168 exhibits, including computers, phones and digital storage.

The States of Jersey Police have also recorded 217 cyber-enabled crimes throughout 2015, including incidents of fraud and harassment.

Detective Superintendent Stewart Gull, Head of Crime & Criminal Justice Services with the States of Jersey Police, said: “We are of course delighted to have been successful on behalf of the small island net- work forum in securing this EU funding. Working with other EU States throughout 2016 and 2017 will now allow us to develop a small island centre of excellence and further invest in our staff working in this often complex virtual world in the combat against Cyber Crime.”