To respond to a growing number of cybercrimes and cyberattacks, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) is stepping up efforts to train IT savvy investigators. It is sending more personnel to companies for training and organizing in-house competitions. It is not only sourcing experts from outside organizations but also working to hone up the overall skills of police officers.

Since August, MPD has increased the number of lectures on cybercrimes for newly-recruited police officers to take. In September, it held a competition in which participants competed with each other over their skills to counter cybercrimes. This year, 252 officers participated.

Plans are also underway to send more officers to companies for training from next fiscal year.

MPD has also launched a “certification program to assess the cybersecurity competence.” It consists of three levels. The novice level is designed to assess basic skills on cybercrime investigation, and the advanced level focuses on the skills of analyzing hacked devices. (Abridged)