NCJ Number
205639
Journal
Security Journal Volume: 17 Issue: 2 Dated: 2004 Pages: 55-71
Editor(s)
Bonnie S. Fisher,
Martin Gill
Date Published
2004
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This article is an exploratory study of police officer perceptions of computer-related crime.
Abstract
Research indicates that over the last decade computer crime has risen to staggering proportions. Police have been called upon by the Department of Justice to become more involved in cybercrime. The specific goal of this paper is to assess officer perceptions of various types of computer crimes to provide a degree of understanding for present local law enforcement policy and create a window on the future direction of police policy in relation to computer crime. This exploratory study sought to gather general impressions from sworn patrol officers rather than from trained specialists. It was hypothesized that the respondents would have varying degrees of understanding as to the prevalence of computer crime which was supported by the data. Study participants consisted of 251 officers from 4 municipal jurisdictions. Study results indicate that what police officers believe about computer crime reflects media-driven stereotypes and is potentially influenced by moral considerations. A review of the computer crime literature suggests that the police officer perceptions gathered for this study are inconsistent with the empirical data on computer crime. Tables