KHARKIV, Ukraine – July 18 was the first working day for 84 cyber-police officers, trained by the Project Coordinator in Ukraine of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on the grounds of Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs. Twenty special agents and 64 inspectors make up one-third of the personnel of the new Cyber Police Department, which was created within the National Police of Ukraine as part of the wider law enforcement reforms in the country.
The OSCE Project Coordinator helped to organize the selection process by facilitating the integrity testing of over 500 candidates in 2015, developing the 760-hour training curricula and materials, and supporting four months of training for the selected officers.
“Cyber security is an important area of efforts for the National Police of Ukraine,” said Khatia Dekanoidze, chief of the country’s National Police. “It took us a lot of time to find good people for this job. They had to pass a difficult competitive selection, and the training was delivered not only by local, but also by international experts. And we are grateful to our partners, the OSCE for making this happen.”
Jeffrey Erlich, senior project officer of the OSCE Project Coordinator, said: “As Ukraine moves into the new economy, crimes affecting e-governance, e-banking, e-commerce and other highly technological areas are shadowing this progress. This is a threat to people’s human rights, it hurts their economic well-being, some perpetrators may even threaten national and international security.”
The OSCE Project Coordinator has been building the capacity of Ukrainian law enforcers in their responses to cybercrime since 2011. The Project Coordinator has helped to equip a training room with modern equipment in two police education establishments and headquarters, and trained police staff with the support of international practitioners.