Law Enforcement Challenges
August 23, 2015

The world is policed by many different forms of authority. The physical aspect of law enforcement has been seen in the media in the modern day for many good and many poor reasons. While race unfortunately gets tied in as a major role in many events today, it is tough to pull the race when a crime is committed behind a keyboard. While this challenge can pretty much be crossed off of the list, there are many more that law enforcement agencies face when investigating computer crime. There are so many laws that apply to regions of enforcement and also to the rights of the suspected criminal. The even more difficult part is that while all parties are working together to achieve the same goal, there are so many grey areas in the chain of command and jurisdictional rules. Agencies investigation crimes such as corruption face a number of different challenges as well. In my eyes, if the crime can be solved, it should not matter where the officer is from. All members of law enforcement have the same goals and that is to keep the citizens of this nation safe by preventing crime. When prevention is not possible or fails, the teams investigating should not have to worry about whether they are allowed to be doing their job. They should simply work together and document evidence and witness material accordingly. Before we tackle the jurisdiction let us point out some of the other challenges that law enforcement faces with different types of computer crime. The long list of crimes that can be carried out via the computer creates an equal list of issues that the authorities have to deal with. There is so much that goes into a crime scene and the investigation process that we take for granted. First, let’s discuss the different types of crimes that cause corresponding issues. Computers have constructed new opportunities for crime. One of these crimes is the sexual exploitation of children. The sexual exploitation of a child is disgusting crime. Those who commit these crimes and are convicted to serve jail time are often treated worse than murderers on the inside. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children created a study that found that about one in seven Internet users between the ages of ten and seventeen are targeted by unwelcomed sexual solicitation (O’Leary & D’Ovidio, 2010). One concern that parents and law officials have is that these solicitations over the Internet leading to an in-person encounter. The real-world relationship created over the World Wide Web can open a whole new world referring to sexual abuse. Law enforcement agencies all over the globe have created special units to deal specifically with online predators. Another challenge that officials have is a child being reluctant to report an online encounter of a sexual nature because of a few reasons. First the child may be embarrassed that this happened to them. Due to the fact that it was an unwanted happenstance and the thought of what others would think, the child might hide this rather than report it. Another reason a child would keep this to themselves is to avoid questioning from their parents. The scrutiny could lead to punishment which could include restrictions on Internet usage. One last challenge for both the parent and the child is where to report something like this. Since there is a lack of a centralized place to document complaints within a law enforcement agency. This lack of awareness makes following the statistics less reliable. This is due to the statistics now being skewed not because these events are not happening, but simply because there is a lack of knowledge as to where to report it. Exploitation can be tied into cyber stalking and obscenity as well. Cyber stalking is a newer electronic crime (e-crime). It affects victims who are mostly invisible and the act is more verbal than physical. This does not mean it should be taken lightly because words mean a lot to a young child. It also can lead to real life stalking where the victims are predominantly female. This all begins from the following on the Internet and the obsession tends to grow. Users are vulnerable to this in many environments on the web such as an online chat, social media, or email. It also takes different forms such as harassment. This can occur as unsolicited, obscene, or even threatening email. Cyber obscenity is a very sensitive issue all over the world. The word is not exactly defined under any law. This is due to the fact that everyone has a different perception of what is naked art and what is sexually explicit. When this crime is committed in public there is a much clearer definition. Online, it can be covered up in many ways as classifying it as a form of talent in the arts. The Internet has provided a medium for the enabling of obscenity and pornography. The best way to describe obscenity on the web is to refer to it as the trading of sexually animated materials over cyber space. The Supreme Court has defined the word obscene as offensive to decency or as repulsive. Another challenge with this is that an obscene image may be illegal in one country, but not in others. The Internet does not have boundaries as we do in the real world. This leads to the next issue that deals with jurisdiction when fighting cybercrime. The concept of jurisdiction relates to which agency has the authority to oversee justice in a specific matter. One thing that it can be based on is the branch of law. In the United States there are three general branches of law and they are: 1. Criminal law - deals with offenses that are prosecuted by the federal, local, or state. It can be punished by economic fines, prison, or even death. 2. Civil law – deals with disagreements between individuals or groups where the party found liable is ordered to pay damages. 3. Regulatory law – deals with certain industries or activities and can impose fines or take away a person or group’s authorization if business related.
Type of case and grade of offense are two other jurisdiction challenges. The type of case depends on the system it is within. There can be different agencies or courts assigned responsibility for different types of cases. Within the criminal system some courts deal entirely with traffic offenses and some deal with domestic violence. Within a civil system some courts handle only divorce cases. The grade of offense is pretty straight forward. Different courts have jurisdiction based strictly on severity of the crime. Municipal courts differ from county courts in what they can try in terms of cases. Cybercrime is a very hard puzzle to solve in reference to geographical jurisdiction. The other challenges described before are much less of a hassle then this. One reason why geographical jurisdiction is such a problem is that the laws differ from nation to nation and also state to state. An act deemed illegal in one place may be deemed legal in another which seems similar to physical crime. The difference is that an act that is legal in one area can be committed upon someone in a location where that act is illegal. Law enforcement are only authorized to enforce the law within their boundaries. Authorities in New Jersey do not have the power to arrest someone in North Carolina. This compares to the FBI not having the power to detain someone in Ireland. Jurisdictional problems usually slow down and can even entirely block the implementation of digital crime laws. Extradition refers to the process by which a nation or state surrenders a suspect to another. These type of treaties usually entail a term called double criminality which means that act must be a crime in both parties pertaining to the extradition. Another large problem occurs even before jurisdiction comes about and that is who committed the crime. Online crime offers many ways to hide a person’s identity. There are multiple services that can mask an Internet Protocol (IP) address. This is done by routing traffic through numerous random servers. It makes it difficult to track down a criminal by doing so and it is also free. The nature of the evidence that a cybercriminal leaves behind plays a large factor as well. The main issue with e-evidence is that is truly is an assortment of zeros and ones. These are characterized by many different means such as radio signals and light rhythms. This data can easily be damaged, modified, or lost. Contamination of a digital crime scene can occur simply by turning a device on or opening a file. Automatic deletion files are often setup to run at a certain time when a cybercriminal is in fear of being caught. This type of trap makes what little evidence there is very fragile to deal with. One last issue with tracking someone online is those who advocate for privacy. Identifying everyone on the Internet in some way could very well be done, but it will be very hard for lawmakers to put it into action. Cybercriminals exploit the freedoms and rights of a free country for the better of themselves or the group they work for. In conclusion, crime is difficult to enforce no matter how the act is committed. Physical crime can cause a headache because there is many forms of crime and it often depends on the severity. Comparing this to digital crime, we can say that while some similarities arise in terms of certain acts that are carried out. As for the enforcement power, it cannot compare because of the wide environment that the Internet possesses. The jurisdiction issues that are caused by crossing a state or country boarder for authorities is much more of a problem for computers in different states or countries. There are many types of crime that can be conducted on the Internet and we as parents are in charge of keeping our children safe. Reporting an encounter on the Internet should be discussed or debated. The act needs to be reported and documented otherwise these predators will continue to hunt. They should not be the ones exploiting, they should be exploited for their unexplainable choices. Once they are pointed out they are classified for their entire lives, as they should be. When they are jailed, pedophiles are often treated the worst behind bars because there is zero excuse for exploiting a child. We are parents and people of this world can only be as safe as we make ourselves. The Internet is a very dangerous place where criminals surf the web looking for a victim rather than walking the streets looking for trouble. We must keep our eyes open, our personal data secure, and most importantly, our children safe. The world will always have criminals and in the present day the world is also very dependent on the Internet so that will not be going anywhere either. We must now focus on protection and security because the world is more dangerous than ever.

References
O’Leary, R. J., & D’Ovidio, R. (2010). ONLINE SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN. Retrieved from http://www.nga.org/files/live/sites/NGA/files/pdf/0703ONLINECHILD.PDF
Pettinari, D. (1999). http://www.crime-research.org/library/Cyberstalking.htm. Retrieved from http://www.crime-research.org/library/Cyberstalking.htm
Sahu, M. (2012, November 18). Be Legal, Be Intelligent: CYBER OBSCENITY. Retrieved from http://newindialaw.blogspot.com/2012/11/v-behaviorurldefaultvmlo.html
Shinder, D. (2011, January 26). What makes cybercrime laws so difficult to enforce - TechRepublic. Retrieved from http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/it-security/what-makes-cybercrime-laws-so-difficult-to-enforce/