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By Tony Hallett, 21 December 1999 00:30

NEWS Police forces in England and Wales have issued their responses to the Home Office's controversial wire-tapping proposals, and while they are broadly in line, the forces acknowledge certain areas need attention. The proposals take the form of revisions to IOCA, the Interception of Communications Act 1985, which never took into account criminals organising crime via the Internet (see 'Battle lines drawn over wire-tapping bill' http://www.silicon.com/a34744 ). Some police forces have disagreed with little in the government's plans. For example, Peter Maddison, assistant chief constable in the Hertfordshire Police, welcomed legislation that covers monitoring of private telecoms systems, and added: "The requirement for telecommunication service providers to provide data on a statutory rather than a voluntary basis will assist the law enforcement agencies and service providers alike." Most have also supported the idea of interception warrants being authorised against a person rather than an address, removing the need for repeat requests to the Home Secretary. However, some forces claim to be sensitive to civil liberties groups' concerns, and complaints from telcos and service providers - especially smaller ISPs - that overhauling infrastructure will prove an unbearable cost. John Jones, detective superintendent in the West Midlands Police, said: "We need to assure people that we will only be intercepting communications for the most serious of cases. We don't want to use interception as a sledgehammer to crack the nut of a relatively minor crime." While there have been some requests to have local judges grant interception permission - by police forces and civil liberties groups - Jones added such a situation might lead to less consistency than solely using the Home Secretary. Powys Police said only officers of detective superintendent rank or above should be authorised to ask for interception permission. The Home Office has received 85 responses to the IOCA consultation paper it published in the summer. About a quarter came from law enforcement agencies. A full list of responses can be found at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/oicd/conslist2.htm .