Policing of Global Crimes Essay Example

Introduction

In the entire world, crimes are a threat to humanity and have negative impacts on individuals and the country where they occur. Two examples of crimes that occur globally include terrorism and cyber-crimes. Terrorism is a form of organized crime that results in homicide and destruction of property (Asongu et al. 2017, p. 1934) while cyber-crime is defined as a global crime that occurs in cyberspace in the world of internet and computer (Olusola et al., 2013, p. 19). The latter has increased due to the advancement in technology. The former mostly target large crowds in social gathering such as malls and big functions. Both terrorism and cyber-crime can lead to death and other severe effects on affected individuals. According to Shaw et al. (2003) countries have employed various policing strategies to fight against terrorists and cyber-crimes (p. 37). However, since attacks are focused on certain jurisdictions, the system developed to counter crimes is unique to each nation although there are collaborative efforts within regions. Additionally, since each crime executive differently due to their nature, the policing strategies employed in each county differs. However, although policing strategies used to counteract cyber-crimes and terrorism are different, they are also similar in both Europe and Africa.

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Nature and Extent of Cyber-Crimes and Terrorism

The crime targets ambitious young people using the internet and who can easily be swayed and enticed by strangers. Often the cyber terrorists disguise themselves to look familiar, and in this way, they can win the trust of the internet user. Similarly, terrorist disguise themselves in order to attack without them being noticed by the authorities or their target. As a result, cyber-crime has become an issue of growing concern because it affects the lives of many people globally (Olusola et al., 2013, p. 19). Advancement and transformation in the world of technology facilitate communication and storage of information which has been negatively impacted on due to the prevalence of increased cyber-crimes and hacking of systems. According to Olowu (2009), Africa has seen the number of internet users increase by 423.9% from 2000-2007 and consequently, cyber-crimes have increased (p. 5). Although cyber-crimes are the most crimes relating to technology, other global crimes also rely on improved technology to counter the policing put forward to fight it. It is estimated that 490,000 deaths occurred from homicide in 2004 (Harrendorf et al., 2010).

Like terrorism, cyber-crimes occur at different levels such as against persons, property, and government (Olowu, 2009, p. 2). Those involved are often well connected, youths, unemployed, knowledgeable and enjoy the fact that there are no stringent policies of regulating such crimes in Africa (Olusola et al., 2013, p. 22). In European countries the occurrence of both terrorism and cyber-crimes is similar. Cybercrimes committed against persons include harassment using computers where the victims are exposed to email phishing, trafficking and distribution of pornography, indecent exposure and distribution of obscene materials (Olusola et al., 2013, p. 21). Cyber-crimes against properties includes computer vandalism and transmission of computer viruses. Crimes against the government include terrorism that involves cracking of government websites, drug trafficking deals, phishing and cyberstalking using the internet.

Terrorism promotes the sale of illegal drugs through the internet, leads to sexual harassment, extortion and enhances terrorism. In a similar way, people recruited to terrorist groups are engaged in taking drugs and also engage in sexual harassment. Both cyberbullying and terrorism may cause the subjects of the attack to commit suicide. Victims of rape lose their dignity and self-esteem and they may end up committing suicide. Imperatively, each of the crime leads to a loss where cyber-crimes result to loss of information especially when the computer gets infected with malware while terrorism leads to loss of life or property.

According to Abadie (2004) both cyber-crime and terrorism are associated with poverty, immigration and political instability (p. 52). When people are poor, they opt to engage in criminal acts such as terrorism and cyber-crime. Additionally, the two crimes are driven by corruption (Terdman (2007, p. 642). Terrorism is a subset of cyber-crime. Cyber-crimes have contributed to terrorism by facilitating the acquisition of information on their target from the internet (Lachow, 2009, p. 438). There is hence an interconnectedness between the two forms of crime.

Similarities between Cyber Crimes and Terrorism Policing

Worldwide, countries have developed measures and strategies to curb cyber-crimes and terrorism. Both Europe and Africa have put forth policies that are aimed at fighting the rising emergence in cyber-crime and terrorism. Both the European and Africa Countries have overtime focused on developing policies to combat cyber-crimes. For example, Nigeria through its criminal code act establishes that cyber-crimes are punishable by law under the criminal code (Olusola et al., 2013, p. 22). The act provides that any person who obtains or defrauds another person or anything capable of being stolen is liable to imprisonment for three years, section 419 and 418 are specific to cyber-crimes (Olusola et al., 2013, p. 22). Despite the measures put forward to deal with cyber-crimes in Africa most countries still use terrestrial laws to deal with cyber-crimes. They have weak penalties and global legal protection against cyber-crimes with few trained cyber experts and enforcers (Asongu et al. 2018, p. 1931). Other countries like the Gambia, Kenya, Senegal, and Burkina Faso use emergency laws and ad hoc approaches to deal with cyber-crimes.

Both Europe and Africa are developing laws, and policies and to fight cybercrimes. Initiatives put forward in both Africa and Europe are guided by the Council of Europe, United Nations and the Group of Eight Industrialized States collaborative framework to fight cyber-crimes. They draw, prohibit cyber-crimes and prompt member states to address the issue (Olowu 2009, p. 11). Efforts put forward ensure offenders who are often jobless are encouraged to use legitimate ways to deal with their curiosity (Kranenbarg 2018, p. 15). Kshetri (2005), posit that laws enacted should make reporting of cyber-crimes mandatory (p. 541). Laws such as Patriotic Act require formation of new security identification measures. Other policies put forward are on data sharing and encryption to reduce data hacking (Whitley & Hosein 2010, p. 178). According to Reich et al. (2010), best practices and policies in information exchange and national legislation that declare cyber-crimes as wars ensure the development of security strategies (p. 2). Developing a harmonized definition of cybercrime also enhances the fight.

Additionally, police-police cooperation is a policing strategy that has been used both in Europe and Africa to fight cyber-crimes and terrorism. Police-to-police cooperation with other countries and cybercrime units in Africa, Europe, and other regions is an appropriate policing measure to investigate the cybercrime. Since both terrorism and cyber-crime are a global crime, and they can be committed to other regions by a person in another region, it becomes significant to collaborate with security agencies in other countries. African countries through the AU have made collaborative efforts to bring together security personnel from various member states to fight terror, for example, the AMISON which is trying to bring stability to Somalia. Immigration policies have also been tightened to reduce illegal immigration and entry at the border points. In Europe, the collaborative helps to combat crime jointly although in different jurisdictions. This police-to-police cooperation initiate is facilitated by Interpol whose vision is to connect police for a safer world and use enhanced international police cooperation to prevent and fight crime.

In addition to police-to-police collaboration, the African Union Commission has formed a joint programme with the Council of Europe to help combat cybercrimes (Lucchetti, 2018, p. 15). This joint programme was born by the African Diplomats as a plan to legislate cybercrimes in Africa. In Africa, there is a lack of common understanding on cybercrime, improper harmonization of cybercrime legislation, limited technical capabilities to carry out investigations, problem coping with new technological paradigm and unavailability of reliable data. The joint programme with the Council of Europe was aimed at addressing those challenges. The joint programme gave rise to the Budapest Convention which is the only international treaty on cybercrime and electronic evidence. The convention harmonizes the criminalizing conduct, procedural tools, and international cooperation. Budapest convention engages 57 state parties, 14 observer states and 12 organizations such as the African Union Commission. UNODCC, Interpol, Eurojust, OSCE, ENISA, ITU, Europol, OECD, Commonwealth Secretariat, OAS and European Union (Lucchetti, 2018, p. 15).

In the recent past, there has been an increase in the level of terrorism in Europe and Africa due to the rise of these terror group linked to Islamic militant organization, Al-Qaeda, and Jihadist. Although the terror group is being fought by the African Union Mission in Somalia and the United Nations, the group remain a threat in Eastern Africa. Similarly, the Jihadist terror groups are being fought by the European forces although it remains a great threat to the entire content.

Both terrorism and cyber-crimes remain a threat despite the policing strategies that have been employed. The two crimes have been experienced globally with countries such as USA, Somalia, Kenya, France, the United Kingdom, and Nigeria falling victims. The radicalization of young people in Africa to join Islamic groups such as Boko Haram, Al Qaeda, and Al-Shabaab among others has increased terrorism (Terdman, 2007, p. 642). In addition to being a threat, terrorist attacks and cyber-crimes are had adverse effects on social and economic development (Shi et al., 2018, p.641).

In the European Union, the cross-border policing is not well developed and great challenges are experienced. The informal institutions control the border rather than formal institutions. These informal institutions have heavily localized policing arrangements and this hinders their proper coordination (Farrel, 2016). As a result, the institutional experiences instances of success and failure. An example is the Belgium policing forces which experienced difficulties in cooperating among themselves and with the European forces (Farrel, 2016). Additionally, Africa lacks a good cross-border policing and this is the reason terrorists are able to move from one country to another.

Differences in Policing of Cyber-crime and Terrorism

The policing strategies employed in Europe are similar to those employed in Africa. However, there are some differences. One such difference is that in Europe, unlike Africa, the investigations relating to cyber-crimes are done by private industry. The private industry provides intelligence and evidence to fight the cyber-crimes in the region. Moreover, the investigations are left in the hands of the highly specialized chain of software break-in experts who are able to understand the moves made by the fraudsters. To disrupt the cyber-criminal operations, the various European countries have joined hands and formed two teams, a cyber-team, and an economic team. The two teams collaborate together to deter the fraudsters from any financial gain. To augment the private industry in the fight against cyber-...