Police in the internet.

In 1829, at a time when London was besieged by crime and the safety of many citizens was uncertain, Sir Robert Peel brought forth a legislation in the British Parliament setting out the terms of a police force. Modern policing as we know it was established . Over the years, the boys in blue have been continually able to adapt to the demands of modernization. But they're now facing new challenges of high tech crime committed over computer networks. These so-called 'cybercrimes' encompasses a great deal of activity :

*'new crimes, new tools' new crimes committed against computers and IT networks which present new opportunities to criminals and new challenges to law enforcement agencies, for example hacking and viruses, denial of service attacks and spoof websites.

*'old crimes, new tools' traditional crimes supported by the use of the internet and high-technology, such as fraud, blackmail and extortion, paedophilia and pornography, identity theft and cyberstalking

Unlike the development of other mass communication and transport, these officers will need to be jacked into cyberspace where 'one forsakes both body and place and becomes a thing of words, [images and sound] alone' .

A police car in Washington, D.C.

Metropolitan Police car

Policing an animal rights demonstration in Oxford....

It extends across immense regions of electron states, microwaves, magnetic fields, light pulses and thoughts which sci-fi writer William Gibson named Cyberspace .The baton and handcuffs has long been emblematic to the tools of the trade for police officers patrolling the streets to keep the dangerous class off the streets. But now they need to supplement their arsenal with computers chasing a new brand of cyber-criminals. Question arises, are they still the ones for the job?

Part I argues the capability and function of the police in their role of monitoring cyberspace; Part II outlines the current structure of policing on the internet; Part III provides a brief description of...