Hi-tech crime unit moves to Halesworth

A unit that puts Suffolk police at the forefront of tackling

21st-century crime opened yesterday.

The unit, which includes one of the country's most powerful forensic computer servers, has moved from its old home at Felixstowe to Halesworth police station.

Formed in 2001, it does the forensic examination and retrie-val of evidence and intelligence from computers, mobile phones and digital cameras.

The unit is staffed by a team of specialist analysts to help investigate theft, fraud, grooming, child abuse imagery and murder. Officers can "interrogate" the seized equipment even when information has been deleted, then rebuild it to find out what was done and how.

The team can examine devices that also include computer hard drives, laptops, memory sticks, MP3 players and BlackBerry devices. And it investigates crimes committed on the internet, particularly those involving indecent images of children.

Unit staff have been involved in a number of high-profile cases, including that of Suffolk-based Timothy Cox, who was found to be at the centre of a global online child-abuse network.

They formed part of a team that infiltrated a chatroom to assume his identity and gather evidence about other users.

Cox was given an indeterminate prison sentence.

The move to Halesworth has involved an investment of around £300,000 and has been necessary to meet increasing demand.

Suffolk chief constable Simon Ash said: "Technology is present in every aspect of modern life, and criminals are exploiting techno-logical advances. We have to ensure that police investigatory techniques keep up with these changes in technology.

"Computers can be used in the commission of crime, they can contain evidence of crime and can even be targets of crime.

"Understanding the role and nature of electronic evidence that might be found, how to process a crime scene containing potential electronic evidence and how we might respond to such situations is crucial."