Law Enforcement Challenges - ESSAY REPORT - CIS170

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Law Enforcement Challenges
Strayer University
Felicia McCaw
Professor Sean Hord
CIS 170
Online Spring 2016
May 27, 2016

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As a facet of criminology the primary focus of law enforcement is to counter and prevent criminal activity. In order to facilitate this preventative focus is kept on protecting the rights of citizens with the objective of administering, applying laws and punishment as needed when violated. With the changes and innovation of technology this has caused a tremendous change in the approach to deal with violations of the law that includes states of exploitation, cyber stalking and obscenity.

Law enforcement and exploitation is at a point where the escalating predatorial pattern is exhibiting an inordinate growth due to enormous profits that is causing a different approach by law enforcement to gain control. Because the nature of crimes are for a majority being committed online it causes a wider spectrum for the elusiveness of violators to escape without being punished.

The scope and increasing amount of online violations and its prevalency has caused an inability for law enforcers to keep up because they are understaffed and relatively ill-equipped. Further because online or internet usage has grown it is being used to perpetuate other criminal activities due to it being harder to pinpoint and circumvent all activities because they are using various methodology to commit more and more crimes.

Investigating exploitation, cyber stalking, and obscenity as a case these are three of the worst crimes on the internet that has intricacies woven in. Because establishing a point or position is almost impossible to prove it is apparent that the establishing of evidence can be next to impossible. Therefore, victimization is a process that is continuous with sometimes an end that is not preventable because of time consumption and the elusiveness of the predator. Further

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because of imaginative tactics of preventing disclosure of author this too is a problem because of a predator using someone as a cloak and attacking this way. As analysis of situational scenario require it is a priority to be understanding when a staged attack is occurring and the level of preventative is upmost and upfront with the possibilities of trial and error as these are some of the considerations that are examined.

The elements of a crime is hard to conceptualize when there are so many variables and the possible preserving of electronic evidence is difficult to facilitate. Proving probable cause is also a perplexing task when dealing with exploitation, cyber stalking and obscenity because of the inability to establish a common cause and the multitude of users on the internet makes it very difficult to prove when an exploiter, cyber stalker or obscener can be located anywhere in the world. Further without good presentation of probable cause there is no case to pursue and no ability to warrant and search and seize. Therefore this scenario proves another problem for law enforcement and enforcers.

In consequence, the same issues that trouble law enforcers also parallel to the challenges that overlap in differing jurisdictions and are encountered in the fight against cyber crime. Establishing a point of criminality is also next to impossible even though attempts are made to correctly do so. Further since the location of crime is hard to determine the appropriate jurisdiction has to be designated based on the last criminal act done or discovered in either a segment or location to make the conviction hold.

In the fight against cyber crimes conductive sting investigative operations are done to halt, circumvent, arrest and prosecute offenders. Using specialized digital evidence recovery and

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analysis as a complement and assistant in fixating the case and establishing protective support of evidence this is an operational must. In order to facilitate and keep evidence safe and fresh training has to be done and as well as have a supportive budget to collectively challenge the escalating criminal base.

Unfortunately, the widening gap between technological changes and enactive laws to deal with cyber crime is apparent because of the inability to keep pace and severe hampering of the lack of strident legal codes at the local level and disability to subpoena across state lines for evidence and conviction. Local levels dismissive of cyber crimes by allocating all as a misdemeanor charge is clear evidence that attempts are not being made to try to halt these crimes. Conflictive to the infrastructure provided this segment is a free will establishment to continue acts of criminality. Further due to inner corruption these overall challenges persist and grow even more despite the beginning amount of reports being made of crimes done against citizens it is still not enough to effect change and prevent.

Some solutions that may be utilized to deal with cyber crime that is done across state lines is to charge as proportion the criminal act done in one state and then the other. Establish the probable cause first and then pursue and proceed with the following legal procedures (warrant, search, seize and arrest). Trace and track until point of origin of criminal act or where misdeed was done and convict in state located despite crossing of state lines. Reinforce and support infrastructure established to reduce and prevent cyber crime and consider changing the punishment from a misdemeanor to felony. Further define and establish agreement of what

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cyber crime as legal defensive in all criminal levels throughout all states to have a commoncy which reflects a sameness with higher punishment rates.

In order to facilitate a challenge to cyber crime an overhaul would have to be done in the approach that is currently being used to measurably halt, circumvent and prevent cyber crime. Irregardless of where the act of criminality occurred whether across state lines or in one state the ability of law enforcement to work together as a complemented whole should be allowed. When it all comes down to it crime is crime and justice is justice.




REFERENCES
Taylor, R.W., Fritsch, E.J. & Liederbach, J. (2015), Digital Crime and Digital Terrorism.
(3rd ed.). Boston: Pearson, Inc.

Erbschloe, M. (2016). Computer and Internet Crime. Computer & Internet Crime - Research Starters Business, 1-5. doi:10-3331/ors_bus_1505
Donnelly, M. (2015). Social Impacts of Cyber Crime. Research Starters: Sociology (Online Edition),