Strengthening State and Local Cyber Crime Fighting Act of 2017

Strengthening State and Local Cyber Crime Fighting Act of 2017

(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to authorize a National Computer Forensics Institute within the U.S. Secret Service for FY2017-FY2022. The institute shall: (1) disseminate information related to the investigation and prevention of cyber and electronic crime and related threats; and (2) educate, train, and equip state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and judges.

Institute functions include:

• educating such officers, prosecutors, and judges on current cyber and electronic crimes and related threats, methods for investigating such crime and threats and for conducting computer and mobile device forensic examinations, and related prosecutorial and judicial challenges;
• training such officers to conduct investigations of such crime and related threats, as well as such forensic examinations, and to respond to network intrusion incidents; and
• training such officers, prosecutors, and judges on methods to obtain, process, store, and admit digital evidence in court.

The institute:

• shall ensure that timely, actionable, and relevant expertise and information related to such crime and related threats is shared with such officers and prosecutors;
• may provide such officers with computer equipment, hardware, software, manuals, and tools necessary to conduct investigations of such crime and related threats and such forensic examinations; and
• shall facilitate the expansion of the network of Electronic Crime Task Forces of the Secret Service through the addition of officers trained at the institute.

(Sec. 3) The bill amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to set forth provisions titled the "National White Collar Crime Control Act of 2017," authorizing the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance to enter into a cooperative agreement with or make a grant to an eligible entity for the purpose of improving the identification, investigation, and prosecution of high-tech crime, economic crime, and Internet-based crime against children and child pornography by providing training and technical assistance to state and local law enforcement officers, investigators, auditors, and prosecutors. Such a grant or cooperative agreement may be made only for programs to:

• provide a nationwide support system for state and local criminal justice agencies;
• assist such agencies in establishing and maintaining intelligence-focused policing strategies and related information sharing;
• provide training and investigative support services to provide such agencies with skills and resources needed to investigate and prosecute such criminal activities;
• provide research support, establish partnerships, and provide other resources to help such agencies prevent, investigate, and prosecute such criminal activities and related problems;
• provide information and research to the general public to facilitate the prevention of such criminal activities;
• establish or support national training and research centers regionally to provide training and research services for such agencies; and
• provide training and oversight to such agencies to develop and comply with applicable privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties related policies, procedures, rules, and guidelines.