Veering Toward Digital Disorder: Computer-Related Crime and Law Enforcement Preparedness

Abstract

The proliferation of computers in the mainstream has promoted access to technology once only available to scientists, researchers, and government officials. This “digitizing of society” has impacted many aspects of daily life, resulting in reliance on computers for the likes of banking, telecommunications, entertainment, and emergency services, to mention a few. This increasing dependence on computers, however, has opened the door for a new breed of criminals whose ill-gotten toolkit consists of Central Processing Units, modulator demodulators, war dialers, viruses, and warez. The targets of these high-tech criminals often include computer networks and the information therein. Law enforcement, generally a mechanistic body in both structure and operation, finds itself handicapped in attempting to maintain order in this hyperdynamic information age. Such developments lead to a new form of disorder—digital disorder. This article develops the concept of digital disorder by examining the characteristics of a “broken window” in cyberspace and law enforcement preparedness. In addressing the aforementioned, various theoretical issues are discussed, as are the empirical findings from a baseline study of 278 municipal police departments.