Like aspirin for arthritis”

A qualitative study of conditional cyber‐deterrence associated with police crackdowns on the dark web

Datos Bibliográficos

ID12776342
AutoresDavid Décary-Hétu (0000-0002-4360-140X, Université de Montréal, autor de correspondencia), Camille Faubert (École nationale de police du Québec), Julien Chopin (0000-0003-4459-2530, Université de Montréal), A Malm (0000-0001-6059-0258, California State University, Long Beach), Jerry H Ratcliffe (0000-0002-0730-6761, Temple University), Benoît Dupont (0000-0001-9909-8594, Université de Montréal)
Año2023
Volumen22
Número4
Páginas639-664
Fecha de publicación2023-09-27
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaCriminology & Public Policy (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1538-6473 • E-ISSN: 1745-9133
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/1745-9133.12642
OpenAlexW4387087979
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas6
Referencias citadas78

Research summary Crackdowns are law enforcement strategies based on the principles of deterrence theory, which stipulates that offenders are rational actors who will refrain from crime if perceived risks are higher than perceived benefits. Studies have shown that the effects of police street drug crackdowns are mostly short termed and followed by considerable displacement. In the early 2010s, an important part of illicit drug trades moved online to cryptomarkets, and law enforcement agencies have responded by engaging in online drug crackdowns. In this study, we focus on the perceptions of dark web users in order to determine, from a qualitative “data‐driven” perspective, whether police online crackdowns may have a cyber‐deterrent effect by analyzing 1796 forum posts. Our results show that these events trigger psychological and practical consequences that participants claim to have a conditional, although minor, deterrent effect. In the majority of cases, dark web users claimed to engage in several forms of spatial and tactical displacement. Policy implications Our study suggests that police crackdowns on the dark web have limited, short‐term effectiveness in curbing illicit activities. It proposes that innovative policing approaches such as problem‐oriented policing and “pulling levers/focused deterrence” strategies, which involve identifying key actors and engaging with them, be potentially extended to the dark web. While this approach is promising, it emphasizes the need for further research to assess its efficacy in the online realm, as it is a largely uncharted territory for law enforcement

Business · Computer security · Deep Web · Deterrence theory · Enforcement · Internet privacy · Law enforcement · Political science · Public relations · The Internet · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Crime Patterns and Interventions · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance · Cybercrime and Law Enforcement Studies · Engineering · Law