U.S. House members have voted to approve a bill that would provide tools and training necessary for law enforcement agencies to fight cyber crime at the state and local levels.
Rep. John Ratcliffe’s office (R-Texas) said Tuesday the Strengthening State and Local Cyber Crime Fighting Act of 2017 would authorize the Hoover, Alabama-based National Computer Forensics Institute, which has served as a cybercrime training center for more than 6,250 local officials across U.S.
“Whether it’s an email that was sent, an online purchase that was made or geolocation information that places an individual at the scene of the crime – digital evidence now plays a role in virtually every crime law enforcement officers face today,” said Ratcliffe.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) noted that authorizing NCFI will help equip law enforcement agencies with tools and training to gather digital evidence and use computer forensics.
Grassley and fellow Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) Richard Shelby (R-Alabama), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) and Luther Strange (R-AL) introduced a companion bill in the Senate.