New advisors to help tackle cyber criminals

The advisors, who will be based within Warwickshire County Council’s Community Safety and Substance Misuse Team, will develop and deliver an action plan in support of the Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police Cyber Crime Strategy.

Initiatives will help raise general awareness of the risks of cybercrime as well as targeting specific vulnerable groups.

They will also act as a central point of contact for partners and local agencies, helping to provide a more co-ordinated response.

Research conducted jointly by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and Warwickshire County Council last year revealed that the scale of online crime in Warwickshire was significant, costing an estimated £2.5million a year.

Responses to the a survey of the public suggested that there could be around 82,000 victims of online crime across the county each year, with around 25,500 suffering some kind of financial loss as a result.

Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner, Ron Ball, said: “While there has already been a great deal of good work carried by many individual agencies across Warwickshire to try and combat this trend, it was clear to me that a more co-ordinated approach would prove helpful and ensure that the right expert advice from all agencies can get out quickly and effectively to the public.

“This way of working has already proved very beneficial when tackling business and rural crime where I have provided funding for similar advisors, so I am delighted to be able extend this to cybercrime.”