The equipment worth more than €200,000 was handed over to the Central Criminal Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia.

Procured by UNOPS, the equipment was funded as part of the European Union's (EU) Security, Accountability and Fight against Crime in Georgia (SAFE) programme.

The overall programme aims to bolster the security of Georgian citizens by reinforcing good governance and the rule of law. This is achieved through support in three key areas: consolidating the prevention of and fight against crime, improving civil protection and enhancing oversight over the security sector.

The new equipment will help Georgia's security sector and significantly enhance the ability of Georgian law enforcement to track cybercriminals and investigate complex cybercrime cases.

“The local law enforcement officers will now have access to the tools which are widely used by the leading law enforcement agencies in the EU and the United States – considerably improving their performance levels in criminal investigations,” said Claude-André Nadon, UNOPS Country Manager in Georgia.

The SAFE programme's sub-projects are designed to strengthen the capacities of relevant institutions to more effectively address corruption, enhance societal resilience, and bolster institutional and operational capacities to prevent and fight serious crimes – including human trafficking, drug trafficking, money laundering and terrorism. The programme also aims to enhance oversight over the security sector and develop capabilities to counter hybrid and emerging threats.

The advanced software and hardware solutions will enable Georgian law enforcement agencies to more effectively analyze and recover forensic data, monitor and trace cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, and conduct computer, mobile and cloud forensics.

The equipment will be particularly beneficial in investigations related to organized crime, child abuse, phishing, malware, illegal information theft and various types of internet fraud.

“The European Union continues to support the security sector actors in Georgia to improve their institutional and technological capabilities to effectively fight against crime,” explained Catalin Gherman, Acting Head of Cooperation, EU Delegation to Georgia.

“The equipment handed over to the Georgian law enforcement officers today will be particularly helpful in tracking cyber criminals, investigating complex cases of cybercrime and, in the long run, contributing to the decreased rates of crime in the country,“ he added.