The Role of Computer Technologies in Structuring Evidence Gathering in Cybercrime Investigations: A Qualitative Analysis

Abstract

In recent decades, law enforcement agencies have increasingly prioritized cybercrime investigations, as evinced by the growing adoption of specialized cybercrime units and personnel. A burgeoning literature has emerged which examines cybercrime units and investigators. Yet, little attention has been given to the role of computers in shaping these investigations. This study addresses this gap through an analysis of qualitative interviews with 47 cybercrime investigative personnel including sworn detectives, civilian analysts, and unit administrators. This analysis confirms and extends prior research by exploring challenges presented by computers to cybercrime investigations including issues surrounding anonymization, encryption, jurisdiction, caseloads, backlogs, data volume, eliciting data from electronic service providers, and the ever-changing technological landscape. Also considered are the advantages offered by such technologies for cybercrime investigations. Computer and network technologies facilitate undercover investigations, provide easy access to global networks and databases, and supply large quantities of evidence to help secure convictions. Finally, this study considers elements of cybercrime investigations not supplanted by computer databases, automation, or network systems. Directions for future research and policy implications are considered.

Keywords

police cybercrime investigations computers and policing specialized investigative units qualitative methods interviews

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Berg

B. L.

(2009). Qualitative research methods for the social sciences (7th ed). Allyn & Bacon.

Boes

Leukfeldt

E. R.

(2016). Fighting cybercrime: A joint effort. In R. M. Clark & S. Hakim (Eds.), Cyber-physical security (pp. 185–203). Springer.

Bond

Tyrrell

(2018). Understanding revenge pornography: A national survey of police officers and staff in England and Wales. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(5–6), 2166–2181. https://doi.org/10.1177/088626051876

Borglund

Nulden

(2006). Personas in uniform: Police officers as users of information technology. ECIS 2006 Proceedings [Online], 1–12.

Bossler

A. M.

Holt

T. J.

(2012). Patrol officers’ perceived role in responding to cybercrime. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 35(1), 165–181. https://doi.org/10.1108/13639511211215504

Bossler

A. M.

Holt

T. J.

Cross

Burruss

G. W.

(2020). Policing fraud in England and Wales: Examining constables’ and sergeants’ online fraud preparedness. Security Journal, 33, 311–328. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41284-019-00187-5

Brayne

(2021). Predict and surveil: Data, discretion, and the future of policing. Oxford University Press.

Brayne

Christin

(2021). Technologies of crime prediction: The reception of algorithms in policing and criminal courts. Social Problems, 68(3), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spaa004

Broadhurst

(2006). Developments in the global law enforcement of cyber-crime. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 29(3), 408–433. https://doi.org/10.1108/13639510610684674

10.

Burruss

Howell

C. J.

Bossler

Holt

T. J.

(2019). Self-perceptions of English and Welsh constables and sergeants preparedness for online crime. Policing: An International Journal, 43(1), 105–119. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-08-2019-0142

11.

Button

Cross

(2017). Cyber frauds, scams and their victims. Routledge.

12.

Carter

D. L.

Carter

J. G.

(2016). Effective police homicide investigations: Evidence from seven cities with high clearance rates. Homicide Studies, 20(2), 150–176. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088767915576996

13.

Chan

J. B. L.

(2001). The technological game: How information technology is transforming police practice. Criminal Justice, 1(2), 139–159. https://doi.org/10.1177/1466802501001002001

14.

Chatterton

M. R.

(1995). The cultural craft of policing – its past and future relevance. Policing & Society, 5(2), 109–120. https://doi.org/10.1080/10439463.1995.9964716

15.

Cheng

(2021). Social media, socialization, and pursuing legitimation of police violence. Criminology; An Interdisciplinary Journal, 59(3), 391–418. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9125.12277

16.

Colton

K. W.

(1973). Computers and police: Patterns of success and failure. Computers & Society, 4(3), 4–13. https://doi.org/10.1145/958632.958633

17.

Colton

K. W.

(1979). The impact and use of computer technology by the police. Communications of the ACM, 22(1), 10–20. https://doi.org/10.1145/359046.359049

18.

Colvin

C. A.

Goh

(2004). Validation of the technology acceptance model for police. Journal of Criminal Justice, 33(1), 89–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2004.10.009

19.

Comey

J. B.

Yates

S. Q.

(2015). Going dark: encryption, technology, and the balances between public safety and privacy [online]. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved December 22, 2021 from https://www.fbi.gov/news/testimony/going-dark-encryption-technology-and-the-balances-between-public-safety-and-privacy.

20.

Corbin

Strauss

(1990). Grounded theory research: Procedures, canons, and evaluative criteria. Qualitative Sociology, 13(1), 3–21.

21.

Cross

(2020). ‘Oh we can’t actually do anything about that’: The problematic nature of jurisdiction for online fraud victims. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 20(3), 358–375. https://doi.org/10.1177/1748895819835910

22.

Danziger

J. N.

Kraemer

K. L.

(1986). People and computers: The impacts of computer on end users in organizations. Columbia University Press.

23.

Davis

J. T.

(2012). Examining perceptions of law enforcement in the fight against crimes with a cyber component. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 35(2), 272–284. https://doi.org/10.1108/13639511211230039

24.

De Paoli

Johnstone

Coull

Ferguson

Sinclair

Tomkins

, ... & Martin, R. (2020). A qualitative exploratory study of the knowledge, forensic, and legal challenges from the perspective of police cybercrime specialists. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 15(2), 1429–1445. https://doi.org/10.1093/police/paaa027

25.

Dodge

Spencer

Ricciardelli

Ballucci

(2019). “This isn’t your father’s police force”: Digital evidence in sexual assault investigations. Journal of Criminology, 52(4), 499–515. https://doi.org/10.1177/0004865819851544

26.

Ericson

R. B.

(1981). Making crime: A study of detective work. Butterworths.

27.

Eubanks

(2017). Automating inequality: How high-tech tools profile, police, and punish the poor. St. Martin’s Press.

28.

Garcia

(2021, February 16). Follow the money: Few federal grants are used to fight cybercrime. Third Way. Retrieved October 17, 2021 from https://www.thirdway.org/report/follow-the-money-few-federal-grants-are-used-to-fight-cybercrime.

29.

Gibson

J. J.

(2015). The ecological approach to visual perception [classic edition]. Psychology Press.

30.

Hadlington

Lumsden

Black

Ferra

(2021). A qualitative exploration of police officers’ experiences, challenges, and perceptions of cybercrime. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 15(1), 34–43. https://doi.org/10.1093/police/pay090

31.

Haggerty

K. D.

Ericson

R. V.

(1997). Policing the risk society. Oxford University Press.

32.

Haggerty

K. D.

Ericson

R. V.

(2001). The military technostructures of policing. In P. B. Kraska (Ed.), Militarizing the American criminal justice system (pp. 43–64). Northeastern University Press.

33.

Harper

R. R.

(1991). The computer game: Detectives, suspects, and technology. The British Journal of Criminology, 31(3), 292–307. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.bjc.a048118

34.

Hawk

S. R.

Dabney

(2014). Are all cases treated equal? Using Goffman’s frame analysis to understand how detectives orient to their work. The British Journal of Criminology, 54(6), 1129–1147. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azu056

35.

Hendrix

J. A.

Taniguchi

Strom

K. J.

Aagaard

Johnson

(2019). Strategic policing philosophy and the acquisition of technology: Findings from a nationally representative survey of law enforcement. Policing and Society: An International Journal of Research and Policy, 29(6), 727–743. https://doi.org/10.1080/10439463.2017.1322966

36.

Holstein

J. A.

Gubrium

J. F.

(1995). The active interview. Sage.

37.

Holt

T. J.

Bossler

A. M.

(2012a). Police perceptions of computer crimes in two southeastern cities: An examination from the viewpoint of patrol officers. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 37, 396–412. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-011-9131-5

38.

Holt

T. J.

Bossler

A. M.

(2012b). Predictors of patrol officer interest in cybercrime training and investigation in selected United States police departments. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 15(9), 464–472. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2011.0625

39.

Holt

T. J.

Bossler

A. M.

Seigfried-Spellar

K. C.

(2018). Cybercrime and digital forensics: An introduction (2nd ed). Routledge.

40.

Holt

T. J.

Burruss

G. W.

Bossler

A. M.

(2015). Policing cybercrime and cyberterror. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press.

41.

Holt

T. J.

Lee

J. R.

Liggett

Holt

K. M.

Bossler

(2019). Examining perceptions of online harassment among constables in England and Wales. International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence and Cybercrime, 2(1), 24–39. https://doi.org/10.52306/02010319LFQZ1592

42.

Hyland

S. S.

Davis

(2019). Local police departments 2016: Personnel [report no. NCJ 252835] [online]. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Retrieved January 14, 2022 from, https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/lpd16p.pdf.

43.

Innes

(2002). The ‘process of structures’ of police homicide investigations. The British Journal of Criminology, 42(4), 669–688. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/42.4.669

44.

Jewkes

Andrews

(2005). Policing the filth: The problems of investigating online child pornography in England and Wales. Policing and Society, 15(1), 42–62. https://doi.org/10.1080/1043946042000338922

45.

Jewkes

Yar

(2008). Policing cybercrime. In T. Newburn (Ed.), Handbook of policing (pp. 580–605). Willan.

46.

Katzenbach Commission (1967). The challenge of crime in a free society: A report by the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice [online]. United States Government Printing Office. Retrieved January 14, 2022 from, https://www.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh241/files/archives/ncjrs/42.pdf.

47.

Kraemer

K. L.

Danziger

J. N.

(1984). Computers and control in the work environment. Public Administration Review, 44(1), 32–42. https://doi.org/10.2307/975659

48.

Kurtz

D. L.

Upton

L. L.

(2018). The Gender in Stories: How War Stories and Police Narratives Shape Masculine Police Culture. Women & Criminal Justice, 28(4), 282–300. https://doi.org/10.1080/08974454.2017.1294132

49.

Lee

J. R.

, et al. (2021). Examining English and Welsh detectives’ views of online crime. International Criminal Justice Review, 31(1), 20–39. https://doi.org/10.1177/1057567719846224

50.

Lee

McGovern

(2013). Policing and media: Public relations, simulations and communications. Routledge.

51.

Leukfeldt

E. R.

Veenstra

Stol

(2013). High volume cyber crime and the organization of the police: The results of two empirical studies in The Netherlands. International Journal of Cyber Criminology, 7(1), 1–17.

52.

Manning

P. K.

(1977). Police work: The social organization of policing. The MIT Press.

53.

Manning

P. K.

(1996). Information technology in the police context: The “sailor” phone. Information Systems Research, 7(1), 52–62. https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.7.1.52

54.

Manning

P. K.

(2003). Policing contingencies. The University of Chicago Press.

55.

Manning

P. K.

(2008). The technology of policing: Crime mapping, information technology, and the rationality of crime control. NYU Press.

56.

Manning

P. K.

(1992a). Information technologies and the police. Crime and Justice, 15, 349–398. https://doi.org/10.1086/449197

57.

Manning

P. K.

(1992b). Technological dramas and the police: Statement and counterstatement in organizational analysis. Criminology: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 30(3), 327–346. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.1992.tb01107.x

58.

Markus

M. L.

Silver

M. S.

(2008). A foundation for the study of IT effects: A new look at DeSanctis and Poole’s concepts of structural features and spirit. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 9(3/4), 609–632. https://doi.org/10.17705/1jais.00176

59.

Meehan

A. J.

(1998). The impact of mobile data terminal (MDT) information technology on communication and recordkeeping in patrol work. Qualitative Sociology, 21(3), 225–254. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022190402726

60.

Mullen

K. L.

(1996). The computerization of law enforcement: A diffusion of innovation study [PhD dissertation]. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan.

61.

Nhan

Huey

(2013). “We don’t have these laser beams and stuff like that”: Police investigations as low-tech work in a high-tech world. In S. Leman-Langlois (Ed.), Technocrime, policing and surveillance (pp. 79–90). Routledge.

62.

Northrop

Kraemer

K. L.

King

J. L.

(1995). Police use of computers. Journal of Criminal Justice, 23(3), 259–275. https://doi.org/10.1016/0047-2352(95)00019-M

63.

Nunn

Quinet

(2002). Evaluating the effects of information technology on problem-oriented-policing: If it doesn’t fit, must we quit? Evaluation Review, 26(1), 81–108. https://doi.org/10.1177/0193841X02026001004

64.

Rossler

M. T.

(2019). The impact of police technology adoption on social control, police accountability, and police legitimacy. In C. E. Rabe-Hemp & N. S. Lind (Eds.), Political authority, social control and public policy (pp. 209–224). Emerald Publishing.

65.

Sanders

W. B.

(1977). Detective work: A study of criminal investigations. New York: Free Press.

66.

Sandhu

Fussey

(2021). The ‘uberization of policing’? How police negotiate and operationalise predictive policing technology. Policing and Society: An International Journal of Research and Policy, 31(1), 66–81. https://doi.org/10.1080/10439463.2020.1803315

67.

Schaefer

B. P.

Tewksbury

(2018). The tellability of police use-of-force: How police tell stories of critical incidents in different contexts. The British Journal of Criminology, 58(1), 37–53. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azx006

68.

Sennett

(2006). The culture of the new capitalism. Yale University Press.

69.

Sennett

(2008). The craftsman. Yale University Press.

70.

Shapiro

(2020). Design, control, predict: Logistical governance in the smart city. University of Minnesota Press.

71.

Turkle

(1997). Life on the screen: Identity in the age of the internet. Touchstone.

72.

Van Hulst

(2013). Storytelling at the police station: The canteen culture revisited. The British Journal of Criminology, 53(4), 624–642. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azt014

73.

Verhulst

M. J.

Rutkowski

(2018). Decision-making in the police work force: Affordances explained in practice. Group Decision and Negotiation, 27, 827–852. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10726-018-9587-5

74.

Warren

C. A. B.

(2002). Qualitative interviewing. In J. F. Gubrium & J. A. Holstein (Eds.), Handbook of interview research: Context & method (pp. 83–101). Sage.

75.

Whelan

Harkin

(2021). Civilianising specialist units: Reflections on the policing of cyber-crime. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 21(4), 529–546. https://doi.org/10.1177/1748895819874866

76.

Willis

J. J.

Mastrofski

S. D.

(2017). Understanding the culture of craft: Lessons from two police agencies. Journal of Crime and Justice, 40(1), 84–100. https://doi.org/10.1080/0735648X.2016.1174497

77.

Willis

J. J.

Mastrofski

S. D.

(2018). Improving policing by integrating craft and science: What can patrol officers teach us about good police work? Policing & Society, 28(1), 27–44. https://doi.org/10.1080/10439463.2015.1135921

78.

Willits

Nowacki

(2016). The use of specialized cybercrime policing units: An organizational analysis. Criminal Justice Studies, 29(2), 105–124. https://doi.org/10.1080/1478601X.2016.1170282

79.

Yar

Steinmetz

K. F

. (2019). Cybercrime & Society (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

80.

Zuboff

(1988). In the age of the smart machine: The future of work and power. Basic Books.