The
Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit (formerly Maine
Computer Crimes Task Force) is a multi-jurisdictional entity
designed to primarily assist law enforcement officers and
prosecutors in Maine with the investigation and prosecution of
computer crimes. Computer crimes are those in which a
computer is used as an instrument in committing, or assisting in
the commission of a crime, or in which the computer is a target
of a criminal act.
The
focus of the task force is to provide quality training to serve
as a forensic, technical, and legal resource for the law
enforcement community in Maine. In this vein, the task
force will endeavor to provide the necessary resources to
conduct forensic computer searches and evidence recovery, using
trained and certified data collection specialists. The
task force will also encourage, promote, aid and accomplish the
voluntary interchange of data, information, experience, ideas
and knowledge about methods, processes and techniques relating
to computer crime investigations, both among its membership and
the law enforcement community as a whole.
While
the task force may, on occasion, undertake computer crime
investigations itself, these investigations for the most part
are recognized to be the responsibility of the law enforcement
agency having primary jurisdiction over that particular criminal
matter.