500 WORD ESSAY #2

Police Perceptions of Computer Crimes in Two Southeastern Cities: An Examination from the Viewpoint of Patrol Officers

Thomas J. Holt & Adam M. Bossler

Received: 25 February 2011 /Accepted: 30 June 2011 / Published online: 19 July 2011 # Southern Criminal Justice Association 2011

Abstract Although scholars and law enforcement administrators have provided input on how local law enforcement is responding to various forms of computer crime and how officers perceive of it, patrol officers have been rarely surveyed to understand their perceptions of computer crime. Examining officer perceptions is vital considering that patrol officers are being asked to be more effective first responders to digital forensic crime scenes as a critical step in combating computer crimes at the local level. This study therefore addressed this gap by surveying patrol officers in two southeastern cities regarding their perceptions of computer crime, specifically regarding its uniqueness, offenders and targets, and seriousness and frequency in comparison to traditional forms of crime. Results indicated that many officers do not have strong opinions on several aspects of computer crime. However, they perceive it to be a serious problem and consider some computer crimes to be as serious as traditional forms of crime.

Keywords Computer crime . Police . Severity . Cybercrime . Perceptions

The Internet, computers, and cellular telephony have drastically improved the ways that individuals communicate and engage in business over the last two decades (Brenner, 2008; Wall, 2001). At the same time, the rapid adoption of computers and the World Wide Web have affected most forms of crime (Brenner, 2008; Taylor, Fritsch, Liederbach, & Holt, 2010; Wall, 2007). For example, pedophilia (Durkin & Bryant, 1999; Holt, Blevins, & Burkert, 2010), prostitution (Holt & Blevins, 2007),

Am J Crim Just (2012) 37:396–412 DOI 10.1007/s12103-011-9131-5

This project was partially supported by a Research & Scholarship internal grant received by one of the authors while employed at Armstrong Atlantic State University. The opinions and insights are those of the authors and do not reflect any university or agency involved.

T. J. Holt (*) School of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University, 434 Baker Hall, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA e-mail: [email protected]

A. M. Bossler Department of Political Science, Georgia Southern University, PO Box 8101, Statesboro, GA 30460, USA e-mail: [email protected]

fraud (Burns, Whitworth, & Thompson, 2004; Chu, Holt, & Ahn, 2010; Newman & Clarke, 2003), and media piracy (Higgins, 2005) have been enabled or enhanced by computer technologies. The emergence of interconnected sensitive technologies and resources have also fostered the likelihood of computer-based terror attacks against electrical grids, nuclear power plants, and financial systems (Brenner, 2008; Denning, 2001; Stambaugh et al., 2001; Taylor et al., 2010).

Though there is increasing attention paid to computer crimes in popular media (Furnell, 2002) and academic research (Wall, 2007), there is an absence of data on the prevalence of these crimes in law enforcement agencies (Holt, 2003; Wall, 2007). This is due to a lack of knowledge among victims as to the appropriate police agency to report experiences with computer crime, as well as difficulties in the ability to recognize when an offense has occurred (Holt, 2003; Stambaugh et al., 2001). Data from various governmental and non-governmental sources indicate that computer crimes have a substantial impact on individuals and businesses alike (Taylor et al., 2010). For instance, the GAO (2007) estimates that various forms of computer crime cost the U.S. economy over $117 billion dollars annually. Similarly, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (2010) found that the total dollar losses attributed to computer crime complaints was $559 million in 2009, with an average dollar loss of $575 per respondent. In addition, the computer security vendor Symantec reported over three million malware attacks in 2010, which is a 93% increase from 2009 (Skinner, 2011). Computer crimes can also have devastating emotional and psychological consequences, particularly for those who experience cyberbullying or harassment (Finn, 2004; Holt & Bossler, 2009; Wolak, Mitchell, & Finkelhor, 2006).

In order to respond to the increasing problem of computer crime, scholars and police administrators have argued that local law enforcement agencies must become more involved in the investigation of these offenses (Goodman, 1997; NIJ, 2008; Stambaugh et al., 2001). Even though computer crimes present clear jurisdictional and evidentiary problems for local law enforcement (Brenner, 2008; Goodman, 1997; Hinduja, 2007; McQuade, 2006; Stambaugh et al., 2001; Taylor et al., 2010; Wall, 2001), it is argued that patrol officers can play the same role in computer crime cases as they currently do in non-computer related offenses. Specifically, line officers must be effective first responders who arrive and secure the scene, collect some evidence if required, and interview possible witnesses (Goodman, 1997; Holt, Bossler, & Fitzgerald, 2010; NIJ, 2008; Stambaugh et al., 2001; Taylor et al., 2010).

Unfortunately, few empirical studies have examined the local law enforcement response to computer crimes, primarily utilizing surveys of administrators or representatives of local agencies (Hinduja, 2004; Marcum, Higgins, Freiburger, & Ricketts, 2010; Stambaugh et al., 2001). Patrol officers are rarely surveyed in order to understand their perceptions of computer crime and the steps necessary to improve their response capability (see Senjo, 2004 for exception). This study therefore addresses this gap in the literature by surveying patrol officers in two southeastern cities regarding their perceptions of computer crime, specifically regarding its uniqueness, offenders and targets, and seriousness and frequency in comparison to traditional forms of crime.

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Local Law Enforcement and Computer Crime

Over the last several decades, scholars have argued that computer crimes pose a significant challenge to law enforcement, especially at the local level (Burns et al., 2004; Goodman, 1997; Holt et al., 2010; McQuade, 2006; Stambaugh et al., 2001; Swire, 2009; Wall, 2001). A long list of issues have complicated the investigation of computer crime at the local level, including: lack of public outcry to improve investigations of computer crimes in comparison to that of traditional crime; the difficulty in investigating “invisible” crimes; insufficient funding to acquire and maintain required technologies; difficulty in training and retaining officers; and gaining managerial support (Goodman, 1997; McQuade, 2006; Stambaugh et al., 2001; Taylor et al., 2010; Wall, 2001).

The small body of scholarship on computer crime and local law enforcement indicates that these agencies do not place a high priority on computer crimes, unless they are child pornography or pedophilia related (Hinduja, 2004; Stambaugh et al., 2001). Agencies are increasing their overall investigative capacity for financially driven computer crimes, though they rarely focus on hacking or computer intrusion cases (Holt et al., 2010; Stambaugh et al., 2001). Additionally, there is mixed evidence that police officers view computer crimes as a general distraction to more serious offenses (Hinduja, 2004; Holt et al., 2010). Local officers also believe that both management and prosecutors do not have the knowledge or resources to adequately investigate and prosecute computer crimes (Burns et al., 2004; Hinduja, 2004; Holt et al., 2010; Stambaugh et al., 2001). They therefore believe that the responsibility for addressing computer crimes should lie with state or federal agencies rather than with local law enforcement (Burns et al., 2004; Goodman, 1997; Hinduja, 2004; McQuade, 2006; Stambaugh et al., 2001; Swire, 2009).

Senjo’s (2004) study of 251 patrol officers in four municipal jurisdictions in a single Western state provides one of the few studies that have examined patrol officer perceptions of computer crime from their viewpoint. He finds that 84% of the patrol officers surveyed agreed that computer crime was a serious problem. In addition, they thought that computer crimes were mostly committed by adults and took place outside of corporate environments. The officers were also asked to rank the severity of five different forms of computer crime, including: pedophilia, credit card fraud, electronic theft, copyright infringement, and espionage. They believed that pedophilia was the most serious computer crime, followed by credit card fraud. Copyright infringement was viewed as the least serious of the five offenses. Senjo, however, did not ask the officers about the seriousness of traditional forms of crime, preventing a comparison between the perceived seriousness of computer crimes and traditional crimes.

The limited body of research in this area significantly restricts our understanding of the ways that line officers perceive of the new offenses they may respond to while on the job. Researchers, however, have argued that it is vital that patrol officers act as effective first responders to computer crime because of their proven success in real world criminal investigations (Brenner, 2008; Goodman, 1997; Hinduja, 2007; McQuade, 2006; Stambaugh et al., 2001; Wall, 2007). In fact, government documents and training manuals have been developed to improve the ability of

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local officers to respond to computer crime scenes (NIJ, 2008; Stambaugh et al., 2001). For example, NIJ’s (2008) “Electronic Crime Scene Investigations: A Guide for First Responders” appears to be primarily written for patrol officers and explains the basic steps that need to occur upon arrival at a digital forensic crime scene, including both basic and advanced information on how to recognize, seize, document, handle, package, and transport evidence from an electronic crime scene. Thus, it is imperative that researchers begin to consider their attitudes and perceptions to better understand their response to computer crimes.

Present Study

Both scholars and law enforcement administrators have provided their views on how local law enforcement has responded to computer crime and how officers perceive of it. We suggest, however, that insights from patrol officers could provide invaluable information on how they perceive computer crime and whether it is worth combating computer crime at the local level. Surveying patrol officers could thus verify or refute findings based on administrator surveys or scholarly commentaries. In addition, their perceptions could provide insights into whether the proposed changes coming from administrators and scholars would fall on deaf ears. This study therefore examined perceptions of computer crime among line officers in two police departments in the southeastern United States in order to fill this gap in the literature.

Data

The survey data analyzed were collected from patrol officers in the Charlotte- Mecklenburg police department (CMPD) in Charlotte, North Carolina and the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan police department (SCMPD) in Savannah, Georgia. Both cities are in the southeastern region of the U.S. However, they differ on several characteristics allowing for comparisons between departments and cities. Charlotte has a large population consisting of approximately 687,456 residents within the city limits and over two million in the combined statistical area, compared with Savannah’s smaller population of 134,669 residents (U.S. Census Bureau, 2009). Charlotte is also second only to New York City in terms of banking centers and financial institutions, making it a major financial hub. Savannah’s primary economic drivers are tourism, shipping, and military bases. The racial composition of these cities differs as well. African-Americans compose the majority of the Savannah population (57%), compared to Whites (36%). In Charlotte, Whites are the largest racial group (55%) with African-Americans as the largest minority group (33.5%).

The CMPD and SCMPD vary by size and demographic characteristics as well. The CMPD had over 1,400 patrol officers while the SCMPD had a little under 400 patrol officers at the time of surveying in the Spring of 2008. Roughly 85% of the officers were male in both departments. However, 78.3% of the CMPD were White and 16.4% were African-American, compared to 59.4% of the SCMPD being White and 33.4% being African-American. The CMPD also has a specialized computer

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crime task force while the SCMPD does not. Thus, the differences between both the two cities and departments provide important points of comparison to examine for consistency and generalizability of the results.

We created a survey instrument using questions adapted from studies focusing on computer crime awareness among the general public (Furnell, 2002) and the police (Hinduja, 2004; Senjo, 2004; Stambaugh et al., 2001). Since the focus of the study was to assess the perceptions of patrol officers, we did not ask administrators, managers, and detectives to participate since these officers have more managerial and supervisory responsibilities. Instead, all patrol officers at the rank of Sergeant and below were asked to complete the survey. In order to collect data from Savannah officers, paper copies of the survey instrument were given to command staff at a weekly departmental meeting in the Spring of 2008 and were then distributed to patrol officers. The command staff returned 144 completed surveys (36% response rate) back to the research team. Due to the large number of CMPD line officers, the survey was uploaded on an internal departmental website for patrol officers to complete. 124 Charlotte officers completed the survey (9% response rate). We discuss the volunteer nature of the sample and the lower response rates in the limitations section.

We analyzed a total of 268 surveys. The majority were male (86.4%) and White (75.6%), which closely matches the demographic characteristics of police officers in U.S. police departments (LEMAS, 2007). In keeping with the demographics of the two departments, the percentages of male officers in the two samples were equivalent but the CMPD had more White officers than the SCMPD. The mean age was 37.1 years old, ranging from 22 to 63. Half the sample had more than 10 years of policing experience, while only 21.3% of the sample had 2 years or less of policing experience. Forty percent had completed a 4-year degree, while another 9.7% had taken or completed graduate or law courses, similar to the demographic composition of the police workforce nationally (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2009). The CMPD, however, had a higher concentration of officers with more policing experience and higher levels of education. Finally, 44% of the sample had some type of military experience. The SCMPD had a higher percentage of officers with previous military experience due to Savannah’s close proximity to two military bases in the region.

Analysis

This analysis sought to examine patrol officer attitudes regarding various issues on computer crime, including its seriousness and frequency in comparison to traditional forms of crime. We examined the robustness of these findings by exploring whether significant differences exist between departments and different groups of police officers. Demographic and experiential characteristics examined were: sex, race, age, highest level of education, years of total policing experience, recent computer crime case experience, whether they have received computer crime investigation training, and the amount of computer crime investigation training received. Multiple tests of significance (e.g., chi-square, Mann-Whitney U, t-tests, Spearman correlations) were used to explore for significant relationships between measures (p≤ .05), depending on the level of measurement.

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Results

In order to provide context for the officers’ responses, we asked respondents about their comfort levels with computers, the amount of computer crime investigative training received, and the recency of their exposure to computer crime cases. The officers in this study reported a moderate ability to use computers on a four-point self-report scale (Rogers, 2001). A sizeable percentage (43.4%) indicated that they could surf the Internet and use most common software; another 48.1% stated that they could use a variety of software and fix some computer problems that they have. 3.4% stated that they were afraid of computers. Only 5.2% reported advanced skills (being able to use Linux, most software, and fix most computer problems that they have). 44.2% of the officers also reported that they were very comfortable with the computer, followed by 35.2% who said they were only comfortable. Only 6.7% of the officers reported that they were somewhat uncomfortable, uncomfortable, or very uncomfortable. Interestingly, the only significant differences in computer proficiency related to whether the officer had received computer crime investigation training and the amount of training received. Thus, the officers displayed an adequate ability to use computers in their everyday lives to have informed opinions on technology.

The respondents across both cities generally reported having little computer crime investigation training. Only 11.2% (n=30) of the respondents had been provided computer crime investigation training (15.3% of Charlotte officers; 7.6% of Savannah officers; p≤ .05). Only half (n=15) of those who had computer crime investigation training received more than 8 h of training (5.6% of the total sample). Younger officers and those with more formal education were more likely to have received computer crime investigation training, while only formal education was correlated with receiving more hours of training.

In addition, respondents across both departments reported having little experience with previous computer crime cases. 61.5% stated that they have never had any experience with a computer crime case. 16.9% had some experience, but the case was over a year ago. Two-thirds of the Charlotte officers, compared to 55.9% of the Savannah officers, had never been involved in a computer crime case (p≤ .05). The officers estimated that 11% (range of 0–95%; median 5%) of the officers within their agency had worked on a computer crime case. Officers with more recent computer crime case experience reported higher estimates of fellow officers working similar cases. Since most calls are randomly assigned to available patrol officers, it was not surprising to find that no demographic indicators were correlated with actually working on a computer crime case. However, this means that officers who responded to computer crime calls were nomore likely to be trained in computer crime investigations than others. Overall, these data illustrate that these line officers rarely responded to computer crime calls in the course of their daily routines and that their perceptions of computer crime are presumably not based on direct personal experience.

Impact of Internet

Respondents were first asked about their perceptions of the Internet and its impact on society (see Table 1). A majority (61.5%) of respondents felt that the Internet’s benefits outweigh the negatives. 26.8% had no opinion on this issue.