Issue Facing Law Enforcement: Online Crimes and Social Media
Today, the role of law enforcement and police is integral in society. In addition to the fact that many police officers and administrators aimed at protecting civilians and keeping order in the country, these people become solid examples of how to behave, react, and support each other. Some authors admit that the genesis of modern law enforcement directly depends on past achievements, mistakes, and triumphs (Klaver, 2014).
However, there is also a burning necessity to look in the future and understand what improvements can be done at this moment. In this paper, careful attention will be paid to one of the most important issues facing law enforcement over the next ten years, effective mobilization for online crimes and fights against Internet trolls.
Future decisions and the safety of society depend considerably on the current work of police officers and law enforcement administrators. It is expected to focus on problem solving, liabilities, and obligations of people who create and support law enforcement (Hess, Orthmann, & Cho, 2016). Every year brings some changes, challenges, and improvements, and not all people can accept their liabilities to predict the future (Cappitelli, 2016). However, it is impossible to neglect some critical issues that law enforcement leaders and administrators in the nearest future. One of them is law enforcement readiness to deal with online crimes and protect the privacy that can be easily stolen by Internet trolls.
The evolution of social media and the possibility to exchange information fast create a number of opportunities for people, as well as million threats and dangers. Several years ago, police officers and law enforcement administrators could protect society using their strengths, knowledge, and courage. Unfortunately, these qualities are not enough today. Law enforcement has to be improved in order to be ready to fight against the outcomes of cyberbullying. Lufkin (2017) poses a question to police officers and social media representatives if they can fix privacy issues and do not worsen the situation. The point is that despite the existing experience and achievements in the field of law enforcement, police officers are not always able to perform the tasks they have to and provide all people with protection and social comfort.
Social media and Internet activities may be interesting to people from different perspectives. Though there are many organizations that focus on these activities and control the quality and speed of information exchange, there are many outcomes that police officers and administrators have to take responsibility for.
The impact of online services remains poorly investigated, and law enforcement administrators should pay more attention to ethical and moral aspects of this issue and make sure that police employees understand the impact of social media and consider its urgency and inevitability during their raids, special operations, and routine observations. For police officers to deal with online crimes or the impact of online services on crimes in ten years, it is necessary for administrators to address this issue as soon as possible and take special courses today. Such a decision can help to improve knowledge about the role of social media in everyday life.
In general, law enforcement may face new challenging issues day by day. Some officers and administrators are ready for such tasks and use their knowledge to demonstrate positive results. Still, in certain cases, administrators have to prepare themselves and investigate the impact of social media on people, their decisions, and behaviors that may improve or bother society in ten years.
References
Cappitelli, P. (2016). 7 of the biggest issues facing law enforcement in 2016. Web.
Hess, K.M., Orthmann, C.H., & Cho, H.L. (2016). Introduction to law enforcement and criminal justice (11th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Klaver, J.J. (2014). Law enforcement ethics and misconduct: An introduction. In B.D. Fitch (Ed.), Law enforcement ethics (pp. 2-28). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Lufkin, B. (2017). 10 grand challenges we’ll face by 2050. BBC. Web.