Cyber Grant Gets Initial OK

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At its May 18, 2011 meeting, the Washtenaw County board of commissioners gave initial approval to apply for a federal Dept. of Justice grant worth nearly $500,000 to support the Washtenaw County Cyber Citizenship Coalition (WC4), a community‐policing model focused on preventing cyber crime.

The grant would support the hiring of a senior management analyst, with the goal of creating and distributing the WC4 “best-practice toolkit” to other communities nationwide. The funding would also help develop a pilot program that would be set up to respond to cyber crime complaints. Similar to 911, it would be a single number that could be called if someone falls victim to a cyber crime. WC4 is working with the FBI Cyber Division in Washington, D.C. and the Southeast Michigan United Way 211 program on this initiative.

Final approval is expected at the board’s June 1 meeting.

This brief was filed from the boardroom of the county administration building at 220 N. Main St. in Ann Arbor. A more detailed report will follow.