For the California contingent attending the three-day Information Age Crime Summit at the Wyndham Hotel in San Jose this week, the news could not have been better

For the California contingent attending the three-day Information Age Crime Summit at the Wyndham Hotel in San Jose this week, the news could not have been better: Gov. Gray Davis wants to earmark $85 million solely for high-tech-crime investigations. The money would be used to provide more detectives for identity-theft cases and more high-tech equipment, among other things. ``They loved it,'' said William Eyres, a security consultant and chairman of the Joint Council on Information Age Crime, sponsor of the summit that drew officers from nine countries. ``It is great news to them.'' The money would be especially helpful for agencies that have been frustrated by the huge amount of time and resources needed to solve identity-crime cases. Thieves steal credit-card numbers, Social Security numbers and other forms of identification that can be used to access bank accounts and commit financial crimes. Many victims don't even realize their Social Security or credit-card numbers have been swiped surreptitiously until years later, when their applications for credit are turned down or, even worse, when arrest warrants show up. As technology has improved, so has the sophistication of high-tech crimes. Kenneth Rosenblatt, special counsel to Santa Clara County District Attorney George Kennedy, said the days of a few employees pilfering computer chips is long gone. Now, thieves are more likely to grab large amounts of pricey inventory through violent invasions of the workplace or by hijacking transport trucks. High-tech crime prosecutors and investigators said millions of dollars are badly needed. In his budget proposal, Davis said such crimes cost the state more than $8 billion a year in lost revenue, wages and taxes. Credit industry figures show identity-theft complaints have grown nationally from 40,000 in 1992 to 750,000 in 1999.