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How Technology Has Affected Crime

A Criminologist Point of View on How Advances in Technology Have Hurt and Helped Crime

By Scoche RenPublished 5 years ago 3 min read
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Criminals are constantly evolving to better themselves, to evade being caught by the law. Technology, for one, has given law enforcement a large boost, because of all the new ways to identify and investigate a crime scene, evidence, and surveillance. This road goes both ways, though, criminals are also able to take advantage of the technology just the same, and to use it to better their crime, and not be caught as easily because they understand the laws and the crime they're committing better. This can be applied to a multitude of crimes from white collar crime to a simply burglary, and because of this, law enforcement and criminals are in a constant battle trying to one-up each other in who is more advanced in their ways.

There are many types of crime in modern society. From murder to burglary, crime is constantly evolving to match the new technology attempting to combat it. Specifically, burglary has well adapted to advances, both online and in person. Criminals aren’t just stealing right out of homes anymore; they’ve since evolved to much more advanced crimes, such as online heists. Through modern technology, criminals have been able to commit crime and become untraceable in the eyes of the law.

There are also criminals like this who are caught and request a trial may be using the trial to find their mistakes. Using the trial as an advantage once they’ve served their time, criminals are able to identify how they were caught, and better themselves in the future to commit their crime more undetected. For example, say someone robbed a bank. It was a basic crime and they were given five years in prison. Before he served his time, he requested a trial, rather than taking a plea deal or something. This allowed him to see that they caught him, because he took his mask off to open the lock on the safe, that was his only mistake and it gave the whole heist away.

Once the man has served his time, he’s released and goes back to robbing small businesses and bank, just as before, but this time he prioritizes protecting his identity while committing the crimes. This tactic used by criminals allows them to take the advantage of the criminal justice system; while they still serve their time, they also get an edge once released, because they understand the mistakes made in their previous crimes and are able to learn and correct themselves to better commit the crime without being caught.

White-collar crime has also been affected by the evolution of technology, especially in our modern society. Starting in the 1990s especially, officials began noticing the large uprising of white-collar crime. From there, policies began being implemented, in order to begin regulating this crime. “Amidst a wave of corporate scandals, the DOJ issued the Thompson Memorandum” back in 2003, which helped to try and define whether or not to charge corporations rather than citizens. This policy could only go so far as some crimes still fell to be charged to a citizen: embezzlement, tax evasion, bankruptcy frauds, corporate crimes, etc; all of which have been committed by one or more citizens in order to take advantage of the government or a corporation so the Thompson Memorandum wouldn’t even help in some cases.

In general, technology can be seen as a good thing, but in the event that it is taken advantage of, it can prove harmful to society. From advances in covering your traces for online and technical crimes to the ability to better commit your crimes by cultivating your crime to be as authentic as ever like with bankruptcy fraud, this evolution is constantly moving forward for both the criminal justice department and those they are attempting to stop. And while attempts have been made to regulate such crimes, they will always occur, because of the nature of the human race. Crime theories illustrate that everyone’s circumstances may lead them to different things, and because of the constant increase in technology, these crimes are gaining momentum just as fast as we find ways to help prevent them.

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About the Creator

Scoche Ren

Someone who is attempting to make it through life, having lived their best life and learned for the hardships throw in the way.

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