Cyber Investigations, A Law Enforcement Needs Assessment

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 62-77
Author(s):  
Frank X. Hartle III ◽  
Christopher Wydra

The purpose of this article is to assess the needs of local and state law enforcement agencies to investigate both cyber-enabled and cyber-dependent crimes. While large federal investigative agencies have the skills, tools and resources to investigate cyber-crimes, the increasing propagation of such crimes has overwhelmed their ability to investigate all but the most serious national security threats and large-scale cyber-crimes. To that end, this article assesses the current knowledge, skills, and abilities of local law enforcement to perform cyber-crime investigations and more importantly their desire to do so. As these crimes grow in ease and popularity it is posited that local law enforcement will be required to have the technical skills to investigate a myriad of cyber-crimes at the local level. As such, there will be a need for local training in cyber-crimes investigation and shared investigative resources. Additionally, this paper gauges local law enforcements' willingness to participate in such training.

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-174
Author(s):  
Coleman McKoy

Cybercrime has become one of the fastest-growing concerns for law enforcement agencies at the federal, state, and municipal levels. This qualitative case study examined the perceptions of nine law enforcement officers from Texas regarding combating cybercrime at the local level. The study focuses on how do law enforcement officers who respond to traditional crimes describe law enforcement agencies’ preparedness to fight cybercrime locally. Data collection consisted of semistructured interviews, where member-checking helped to enhance trustworthiness. The results from this study helped fill the gap in the literature regarding the unknown perceptions of law enforcement officers responding to cybercrimes at the local level. This study also focused on the behaviors of the participants regarding responding to cybercrimes. Participants indicated that law enforcement agencies take cybercrime seriously; however, cybercrimes are not a high priority for law enforcement at the local level. Participants also provided challenges that local law enforcement agencies face in cybercrime investigations locally.


2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amada Armenta

Deporting “criminal aliens” has become the highest priority in American immigration enforcement. Today, most deportations are achieved through the “crimmigration” system, a term that describes the convergence of the criminal justice and immigration enforcement systems. Emerging research argues that U.S. immigration enforcement is a “racial project” that subordinates and racializes Latino residents in the United States. This article examines the role of local law enforcement agencies in the racialization process by focusing on the techniques and logics that drive law enforcement practices across two agencies, I argue that local law enforcement agents racialize Latinos by punishing illegality through their daily, and sometimes mundane, practices. Investigatory traffic stops put Latinos at disproportionate risk of arrest and citation, and processing at the local jail subjects unauthorized immigrants to deportation. Although a variety of local actors sustain the deportation system, most do not see themselves as active participants in immigrant removal and they explain their behavior through a colorblind ideology. This colorblind ideology obscures and naturalizes how organizational practices and laws converge to systematically criminalize and punish Latinos in the United States.


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