Cyber crime gangs on increase, says police chief

The country's most senior policeman warned today that organised crime gangs are increasingly turning to the internet to maximise their earnings.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson said: "The modern Tony Soprano-style crime lord will have a cyber expert on hand."

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, he warned about the risk of losing technology specialists in order to keep officers on the beat, saying: "Uniform officers alone will not keep the streets safe."

His comments came after his force last week charged 11 eastern Europeans over a multi-million pound theft from UK online bank accounts.

Sir Paul said police were only tackling 11% of the 6,000 organised crime groups in England and Wales "in an operationally meaningful way".

Of the 385 officers in England and Wales dedicated to online work, 85% were tackling people-trafficking and child pornography - leaving fewer than 60 to fight financial crimes such as bank fraud.

"My investigators tell me the expertise available to law enforcement is thin, compared to the skills they suspect are at the disposal of cyber criminals," he said.

The commissioner added: "Some commentators argue that we should concentrate on uniformed policing and draw back from specialised work that could be done by others," he said.

"Leave cyber crime to the banks and retailers to sort out, the argument runs. It's a fundamentally misguided argument.

"If the debate about police cutbacks gets bogged down in arguments about 'uniforms before specialists' we will not serve the public well."

The Met's e-crime unit cost £2.75 million to run last year. Sir Paul said it was estimated to have prevented £21 in theft for every £1 spent.