Visit of a Polish Police delegation to the United States of America and Canada

The issue of cybercrime was the main objective of the visit of a delegation of the Polish Police to the United States and Canada. The delegation, headed by Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Police Major General Pawel Dobrodziej, established new and strengthened existing ties of cooperation with American and Canadian centres for combating cybercrime.

Cybercrime represents one of the most serious and dynamically evolving threats to both private and public security. The fight against cybercrime will only be effective if law enforcement authorities can keep pace with cybercriminals, both in terms of skills and technological capabilities. The fight against cybercrime should be based on limiting its social impact and identifying cyber threats with a view to building a safer cyberspace.

In order to address the challenges of modern times and to flexibly respond to ever-changing trends in crime, a new specialist entity, the Central Bureau for Combating Cybercrime, has been established within the Polish Police. In view of the decision to establish the new unit, the Polish delegation visited the USA and Canada with the intention of establishing and strengthening cooperation with leading North American bodies combating digital threats.

The map of destinations was determined by US and Canadian cybercrime centres. The delegation visited units within the structure of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), including the Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory - a centre that combines a computer laboratory and training centre for FBI agents and representatives of other law enforcement agencies. A meeting was also held with the Director of IC3 - Internet Crime Complaint Center, which specialises in receiving, analysing and responding to Internet crime reports. In addition, during a meeting with agents of the FBI Field Office Cyber Squad, the delegates were introduced to the agents' tactics for investigating digital attacks and data breaches, interviewing witnesses and suspects, and the procedure for securing digital evidence related to infiltration or hacking into a computer network.

Polish police officers also met with representatives of the U.S. Secret Service, which, in addition to protecting the country's top officials, defends the security and interests of the United States of America in the face of cybercriminal activity.

The agenda of the visit also provided room for establishing contact with The National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance (NCFTA) - a non-profit partnership established in 2002 by representatives from law enforcement, private industry and academia.

During their visit to Canada, Polish delegates met with the Director and representatives of the specialist Department of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police; they also discussed the methodology of an advanced, unique cybercrime training curriculum implemented by the Canadian Police.

During all above-mentioned meetings, the Polish party and the American and Canadian partners exchanged experiences, remarks and concepts regarding the effective fight against cybercrime. They declared closer cooperation at the strategic and operational levels and readiness to participate in joint training. Knowledge and contacts gained through such cooperation will contribute to the strengthening and development of capabilities of the Polish Police in combating digital threats.

Headed by the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Police, the delegation also included Colonel Adam Cieślak - Plenipotentiary of the Commander-in-Chief of the Police for drafting organisational and legal solutions for establishing the Central Bureau for Combating Cybercrime (CBZC), Colonel Paulina Filipowiak - Director of the International Police Cooperation Bureau, NPHQs and Lieutenant Marcin Bednarz - J-CAT Poland Cyber Liaison Officer at Europol.

The meetings were also attended by Lieutenant Colonel Beata Trojanowska, Polish Police Liaison Officer in Washington DC and Michael Malsch, FBI Attaché at the US Embassy in Warsaw.

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