The Medford and Central Point police departments have teamed up to combat the surge in high-tech crime plaguing Jackson County.
The agencies announced Wednesday the creation of a High-Tech Crimes Task Force that will work out of Central Point's police station.
They hope the task force, which now constitutes one detective from each agency, will continue to grow as the need for computer forensics increases.
"We believe this is the wave of the future," Central Point police Chief Jon Zelif said. "You have to be very aggressive in going after Internet crime to keep the public safe."
Think of it as the digital version of the Jackson County Narcotics Enforcement Team (JACNET). But instead of chasing down drug dealers, the High-Tech Task Force will combine local law enforcement to fight computer crimes such as identity theft, child pornography and cyberstalking.
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"In the past, if we had a case where a criminal used a computer we had nowhere to send it for examination," Moulin said. "We couldn't use it as evidence."
It has taken around $100,000 in training and equipment to get the task force off the ground, which is a deal, according to Medford Detective Brandon Bloomfield, the unit's other officer.
"Taxpayers only had to pay for one task force instead of two because Medford and Central Point are working together," Bloomfield said.
The U.S. Army helped out by donating an $11,000 computer. In return, the task force will handle federal narcotics cases. That was something Moulin and Bloomfield were doing anyway so there will be no increase in their workload, they said.
In addition, they will work cases for the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Bureau of Land Management, Medford's Gang and Street Drug Unit and the Oregon Department of Justice.
The case load is already high, as evidenced by a locker stuffed full of seized computer hardware. The force hopes to add four to five detectives over the next few years to help stay ahead of the surge in digital crime.
It takes between 20 and 40 hours to examine a seized computer. Cell phones, depending on the model, can take several hours to analyze, the detectives said.
"We are finding more and more computers in houses," Moulin added. "It is not uncommon for us to search one home and come out with three to four computers, a box of CDs, iPods and other items.
We would like in the future to add other local agencies. But as of yet we don't know which ones will commit."
The detectives agree that police academies should do more to teach new officers the rudiments of high-tech investigations.
"In the future, there needs to be courses on recognizing and seizing digital evidence," Moulin said.
Reach reporter Chris Conrad at 776-4471, or e-mail cconrad@mailtribune.com.
