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Global evidence suggests a potential displacement of youth offending from the physical to the digital landscape, requiring revision of existing detection and intervention methods. This study aims to explore pathways from harmful to illegal online activity perpetrated by young people, legislation and police perspectives, current detection methods and interventions.

This perspective paper examines issues observed within a larger systematic literature review on digital youth offending.

A trajectory from acceptable to harmful and subsequently illegal behaviour was identified, with a particular pathway from unethical video game activity to digitally dependent offending. Legislation and police perspectives vary by jurisdiction, with a common theme that increased officer education is key to the level of preparedness to investigate cases. Machine learning and automatic prevention show promise as detection and disruption processes, with education recommended for young people as a deterrent and redirection of skills to positive outcomes.

Recommendations for further research include a broad survey of school students to include all identified areas of digital offending, which could drive the development of targeted education by law enforcement and partner agencies for young people.

The shift in youth offending requires the justice and educational systems to adjust how they respond to youth crime. Policy and practise shifts can include further exploration of investigative hacking, education for law enforcement and educational prevention and redirection programmes aimed at youth.

The digital displacement of youth offending is a progressively emerging concept. This paper examines the current state of response from educational and law enforcement agencies and discusses the next steps based on what is currently known.

Global evidence suggests that youth offending has reduced; however, this study aims to suggest a more complex picture, with youth crime potentially being displaced to the digital space. Historically, young people and crime have been synonymous with public spaces and being visible. A shift or expansion to online offending requires revision of how the justice and educational systems respond to youth offending.

A systematic literature review explored keywords related to age, digital offence or harm and criminal or harmful nature, using a search, appraisal, synthesis and analysis framework.

Three emergent areas of digital youth crime are discussed: digitally assisted crime, digitally dependent crime and digital harm.

The shift in youth offending requires response adjustment from prevention to detection. Opportunities may exist to disrupt or redirect youth before they offend. Further data specific to digital offending is needed. These findings seek to provide a possible direction for future research.

The concept of digital displacement of youth offending is progressively emerging. This paper examines types of offending categorised into three areas of interest.

This paper aims to determine the level of online fraud offending within an Australian jurisdiction and how to best apply resources to combat it.

Empirical data were provided by an Australian law enforcement agency, and qualitative responses were obtained from the parties involved in the crimes themselves (the victims, the offenders and the nominated law enforcement agency).

Although there was variance between the ages of the online fraud victims, there was a slightly higher chance of an older member of the population falling victim to an offender than that of a younger person. The number of a particular gender reporting an instance of cybercrime in a given area can be higher if the total number of participants in that area was also high. Older victims were more likely to lose larger amounts of money to online fraud. Furthermore, it was found that when the non-gender identifiable data were removed, this increased to over 80 per cent.

Existing literature on online fraud and criminal offending generally focused on the quantitative aspects of measuring offending, which does not give an indication into the “why” component of the study: why are these offences being committed; why do these offenders pick particular victims; and why do the victims fall for such ruses? In this paper, the authors combined the qualitative responses obtained from those parties involved in the crimes themselves (the victims, the offenders and the nominated law enforcement agency) with a quantitative examination of the crime figures provided by an Australian law enforcement agency.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the influence of exposure to motivated offenders who may alter the vulnerability levels to phishing victimization. This is particularly focused on explaining the influences of individuals’ online lifestyles and attitudes toward information sharing online on phishing susceptibility.

This conceptual paper explores the risk of phishing victimization using criminological theories. The authors draw on empirical evidence from existing cybercrime literature and revisit routine activities theory (RAT) and lifestyle RAT (LRAT) to elucidate the risk of phishing victimization. This paper proposes that cyber-RAT, which was developed from RAT and LRAT, could interpret phishing victimization. Grounded on the intervention-based theory against cybercrime phishing, this study suggests that an attitude toward precautionary behavior (information sharing online) is essential to mitigate the phishing victimization risk.

This paper aims to provide a clear insight into the understanding of phishing victimization risk using theoretical and empirical evidence.

The theoretical perspective outlined provides the understanding of the impacts of online routine activities on a phishing attack which in turn will increase the awareness of phishing threats. The important role of the precautionary countermeasure, that is, attitudes toward information sharing online is highlighted to reconcile the phishing victimization risk.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the association of cybercrime, autistic spectrum conditions and international law enforcement, the past decade having seen a significant growth in reported cybercrimes involving autistic individuals.

Interest in the profile of autism and cybercrime and the pathways whereby such offences are committed is shared by key law-enforcement agencies worldwide. This was explored by literature review and survey.

The authors identified a presence of persons with Autism Spectrum Disorders but no empirical evidence to suggest a prevalence or an over representation of autistic individuals committing cybercrime offences. At present profiling, pathways, and recording is under developed.

Paucity of literature on cybercrime and autism. Awareness of autism within law-enforcement agencies and the absence of key diagnostic and other data from the cross-section of agencies surveyed.

Improve detection, diversion, profiling, risk and pathways into cybercrime.

Better prediction of risk of cybercrime and improved responses.

Original paper believed to be the first to look at cybercrime and ASD in the context of international law enforcement.

The purpose of this paper is to use Maguire’s (2003) theory of police organizations to explain whether police agencies dedicate specific personnel to cybercrime response.

Data from this study come from the 2013 Law Enforcement Management and Statistics survey. Maguire’s (2003) theory of the organizational structure of police organizations is used to measure organizational variables related to context, complexity and control. Logistic regression is used to examine whether these organizational characteristics are related to cybercrime response.

The results suggest that organizational context, complexity and control are related to cybercrime response. Specifically, in terms of context, larger agencies, agencies whose officers engage in more non-routine tasks, and agencies governed by an active collective bargaining agreement are more likely to dedicate specific resources to cybercrime. In terms of complexity, agencies with more hierarchical layers, agencies that utilize more specialization and agencies that make greater use of civilian employees are more likely to dedicate specific personnel to cybercrime. Finally, regarding control, agencies that assign non-sworn personnel to administrative tasks are more likely to dedicate resources to cybercrime response.

This study is one of the first to use this framework to examine the relationship between organizational characteristics and cybercrime response. It shows that this perspective can be useful for understanding police organizations and police policies, programs and strategies.

Cyberbullying – using technology to intentionally and repeatedly engage in bullying behaviors – has gained considerable public attention over the last decade. Parents and educators regularly instruct students about appropriate online behaviors and threaten consequences for misbehaviors. The role and responsibility of law enforcement officers in preventing and responding to cyberbullying incidents remains uncertain. While clear violations of the law (e.g. threats of physical harm) most directly implicate the police, other – more common behaviors – such as rumor spreading or hurtful online commenting do not. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

The current study surveyed 1,596 law enforcement supervisors attending the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Academy (NA) program. The survey instrument assessed perceptions of law enforcement responsibility in cyberbullying incidents. Data were collected in three waves over a nine-year period, allowing the measurement of attitudinal changes over time.

The authors find that certain officer characteristics are associated with a greater interest in responding to different types of cyberbullying (including having children at home and having previous experience dealing with cyberbullying) and that these perceptions have evolved over time.

The data are specific to law enforcement leaders who participated in the NA and are therefore not generalizable to all officers. Nevertheless, implications for explaining variance and law enforcement involvement in cyberbullying incidents are discussed.

This is the first study to survey law enforcement leaders over time to assess their evolving perceptions of law enforcement’s role in addressing cyberbullying among youth.