An examination of English and Welsh constables’ perceptions of the seriousness and frequency of online incidents

ABSTRACT

This study examines the perceptions of police constables and sergeants across England and Wales regarding the nature of cybercrimes, their frequency, and any time spent investigating these offences each week. Though previous research has examined line officer views and police management in the US, there is limited research examining how constables view online crimes as they are being directed to address them through national policy, and through local demands from the citizens they serve. The results demonstrated that constables engaged with online offences in the field, though they differ on the nature of online crimes and their impact on the general public. They also viewed online crimes as frequent problems, though they spend a relatively small proportion of their time each week responding to these cases.

KEYWORDS:

• Policing
• cybercrime
• online crime
• fraud

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the UK Home Office and the Essex Police Constabulary for their assistance in supporting and administering the survey, as well as the entire police constabulary of England and Wales for their assistance.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Respondents were asked to indicate their role within their specific police agency based on the task categories available at that time. Within our sample, 23.3% were in a neighbourhood role, 41.3% in response, and 35.5% in Criminal Investigative Division (n = 1015). These roles do not align perfectly with recent statistics made publicly available by the Home Office, as they utilize different terminology. As a result, this should not be used as a point of comparison for the representative nature of our sample population.