Abstract
This book is a timely addition to the study of policing and criminal activity on a number of counts. One is related to the actual criminal activity related to the various forms of electronic communications from phishing e-mails, bogus websites, deeply encrypted websites related to pedophilia, and on various social media sites. It is a criminal activity where there is minimal physical contact with its victims therefore making it more attractive for offenders to commit due to the relative anonymity that minimizes the risk of arrest (Yar, 2013). What Policing Cybercrime and Cyberterror provides is a valuable insight into the issues surrounding the policing of cybercrime, founded upon empirical research.
The first chapter introduces the reader to definitions of cybercrime and cyberterror followed by the authors’ attempt to situate where enforcement sits in the management of cyberspace. They look at entities that include Internet users, Internet providers, the security industry, and nongovernmental organizations as all of these parties are involved in the management of cyberspace as they have a stake in the impact cybercrime has in their activities.
For me the important, pertinent and most revealing chapters in the book are those covering police officers’ perspectives on cybercrime (Chapter 3), police officer attitudes toward the law enforcement response to cybercrime (Chapter 4), and the stress strain and satisfaction among cybercrime investigators (Chapter 5). A good example of how Holt, Burruss, and Bossler’s work makes a significant contribution to the study of policing is in the chapter covering police officers’ perspectives on cybercrime the writers cover their earlier primary research asking officers to rate on a 5point scale how serious 12 forms of crime were based on financial harm to victims and the threat to their life, liberty, and personal property. They split the officers’ response into two categories of officer: patrol officers and specialized officers trained in cybercrime detection. The offenses the officers were asked to grade in importance computer crimes (copyright infringement, credit card fraud, electronic theft of money from accounts harassment, identity theft, pedophilia, and malicious software and virus infection) and traditional crime (burglary, drug-dealing armed robbery, shoplifting and vandalism). The data obtained reveal illuminating responses from both categories of enforcement officer. This is just one example of how the data from the authors’ research are impactive in widening the understanding operational police culture in relation to electronic communications and technology.
Another important topic the authors cover is in relation to cybercrime training for law enforcement officers. In Chapter 3, covering this area, the authors state that law enforcement officers’ attitudes to cybercrime can be affected by various internal and external factors, and it is important to view how those officers view cybercrime training. There is a thorough coverage of this topic where the authors look at the investigative resources available for cybercrime cases, officers’ interest in cybercrime training, as well as their attitude toward the training. Based on their own empirical research with officers, they discuss why when compared to federal agencies local policing agencies have a much lower level of training for cybercrime. Ranging from limiting operational budgets to how some policing agencies perceive the importance of cybercrime they use the data to good effect in covering key points as to why this is the case. What comes across as a surprise is the relative ambivalence of a large proportion of law enforcement officers toward cybercrime training. From the data, the authors use the variables to analyze the responses that range from perceptions of Internet and cybercrime, views on policing cybercrime to demographic that include the officers’ ages and length of service. Their findings lead the authors concern that at local level, smaller law enforcement agencies only possess a limited ability to respond to cybercrime.
Chapter 4 covers police officer’s attitudes toward the law enforcement response to cybercrime where the authors attempt to understand how officers perceive the value of various strategies to combat cybercrime. The data tables are thoughtfully presented and easy to follow. Their findings reveal that most of the officers they questioned had little direct experience with computer crime and as a result this affected their responses. What also come out of the authors’ research is that many officers would not prefer to become directly involved with cybercrime cases as they would rather see changes in users’ online behavior. The importance of the officers’ perceptions toward cybercrime must be taken into consideration by law enforcement agencies when drawing up a comprehensive strategy to address the various forms of cybercrime.
The data related to the stress, strain, and satisfaction among cybercrime investigators in Chapter 5 produce the most illuminating results. As the authors point out, policing street crime can be stressful because of the direct interaction with public, but as cybercrime is ethereal in nature, it should be a less stressful form of police work. Even though the interaction with the public is limited or virtual, they found that cybercrime poses particular stressors for officers. The authors recognize why it is important to recognize high stress levels that can lead to employee absenteeism, high turnover, and low productivity. While it may not come as a surprise that investigators who deal predominantly with exposure to child pornography reported higher degree of stress, there are other areas of investigators work that result in trauma and negative physical symptoms. Using a wide number of variables, the authors produce data that assist an understanding of the issues causing the stress and how it impacts on the individual investigator’s role. While similarities were found in the causes of stress among both street and cybercrime investors such as role conflicts and issues dealing with supervisory support, the differences are important in understanding the policing of cybercrime.
Overall, this book makes a valuable contribution to the study of policing in general, but in particular in understanding of the operational culture of cybercrime investigators. This is important as increasingly policing includes the monitoring of electronic communications and Internet sources.