According to a recent article in a federal courts newsletter, a working group of federal probation and pretrial service officers is looking for better ways to monitor offenders who commit crimes using electronic devices.
With the widespread use of these devices in society, their criminal use is no longer limited to typical “cybercrimes,” like identity or data theft, and their use in other crimes is expanding, including fraudulent online sales, extortion, credit card fraud, and child pornography. And it no longer takes a sophisticated, tech savvy person to use such a device to commit a crime.
The working group is looking to develop a policy and strategy for supervising and investigating these defendants and offenders where none currently exists. Among the issues they are considering is determining the appropriate level of supervision based on an offender’s technological sophistication. For example, the article states that banning computer use is not always appropriate but in some cases may be a necessary condition of supervision, especially when offenders’ knowledge of technology surpasses the ability of officials to monitor them.
The group is considering contracting nationally for computer monitoring services and developing a protocol for the types of monitoring needed for offenders. They are also considering creating “cybercrime specialists” who would collaborate with other officials on cases involving technology, expanding training programs, and partnering with the FBI to improve computer forensic resources available to the officers.
