Exploring officers’ responses to cybercrime calls-for-service in the United States: A road map for the future

Abstract

Despite the rising prevalence of cybercrime incidents and the mandates to respond to cybercrimes, police officers are generally ill-prepared to handle these cases because of the following individual and organizational factors: police officers’ knowledge gaps, technical and evidentiary challenges, and agency cultures’ prioritizing traditional offline crimes, obsolete organization cultures, limited budget and resources, outdated training on cybercrime investigations, and the effectiveness of specialized cybercrime units. This paper reviews the international literature on law enforcement responses to cybercrime, focusing on identifying the various types of cybercrime offenses officers encounter and assessing officers’ responses to these incidents, along with the factors that influence their responses. The purpose of this work is to identify the primary challenges confronting law enforcement and explain the key factors underlying these challenges worldwide. This paper provides a comparative basis for discussing potential policy changes and future research directions to make U.S. law enforcement responses to cybercrime more effective, such as establishing an agreed-upon definition to streamline the cybercrime reporting system, broadening data availability, overcoming organizational challenges, reforming organizational cultures, and addressing structural barriers through partnerships.