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This study explores the effectiveness of local and state law enforcement in dealing with computer crime. Several criteria are used as a measure of effectiveness. The first one is based on the General Deterrence Theory, which enables to test whether higher probability of arrest for computer crimes deters future computer crimes. Another criterion for establishing police effectiveness is the amount of computer crime statistics that enter departments records under circumstances of extremely low reporting of computer crimes. Computer crimes are drawn from the NIBRS crime data collected from state and local law enforcement agencies. Departmental variables are assessed using the Sample Survey of Law Enforcement Agencies, which is administered by the Bureau of Justice Statistics program on Law Enforcement and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS). According to the findings, there is some evidence that deterrence works in the context of computer crimes after some threshold number of detected computer crimes is reached.

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Tamer Köksal, PhD: Studies of Political Science and Justice at Kent State University. Police Major at the Turkish National Police. Married with two children.

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