Why police forces must keep up with the times

THIS 21st Century lighning-speed evolving digital technology has given rise to a new era of digital crime that can involve billions of dollars but yet difficult to detect or bring to book the perpetrators.
The National did a quick search on the matter and the following Interpol news report clearly tells global communities and governments why it is so imporatnt to keep police investigations and prosecutions up to date to remain relevant and effective in all fields.
This is one of them.
NUREMBERG, Germany: The impacts of Altcoins, an alternative to Bitcoins, on law enforcement investigations and prosecutions was the focus of the second meeting of the INTERPOL Working Group on Darknet and Cryptocurrencies.
With more than 2,000 different cryptocurrencies in existence, the Working Group had previously identified Altcoins as an emerging challenge for police investigations worldwide.
Co-hosted by INTERPOL and the Bavarian State Ministry of Justice (Germany), the meeting brought together 52 participants from law enforcement, academia, private industry and international organisations in 25 countries.
The Working Group identified specific Altcoins which should be considered a priority, the most effective current investigative solutions, information sharing on the criminal use of Altcoins, and how to translate the complex technical details related to Altcoins into usable information for police and prosecutors.
At the two-day (Oct 10 and 11) meeting, the participants conducted an empirical study outlining the necessary steps for investigating crimes involving cryptocurrencies, and produced a report on the most significant Altcoins for law enforcement and their tracing capabilities. The aim is to ultimately develop a common investigative methodology to assist police in counteracting the criminal activities facilitate by the anonymous cryptocurrencies.
Bavarian State Minister of Justice, Winfried Bausback, said: “Cryptocurrencies give perpetrators the possibility to conceal their cash flows and identities across country borders, enabling them to elude law enforcement authorities. We can only confront the global cryptocurrency phenomenon by intensifying the international cooperation of powerful investigative structures.”
Thomas Janovsky, Public Prosecutor General in Bamberg in charge of the Bavarian Central Office for the Prosecution of Cybercrime, noted the need for police and the judiciary alike to step up to these new challenges.
“Privacy oriented cryptocurrencies like Monero or Z-Cash might take over at least some of the market share of the Bitcoin within the criminal environment. Police experts, but also prosecutors as well as judges, must adapt to this new reality soon. We all need to get ahead of technological trends to successfully fight against the criminal use of cryptocurrencies,” said Mr Janovsky.
The first Working Group meeting, held in Singapore in March, looked at emerging threats including Darknet markets, cryptocurrency mixers, anonymisation techniques, lack of Altcoin tracing tools and decentralized escrow services.

Our particular goal is modest, but indispensable: while we cannot change the political climate, we can train investigators to the highest standards, so that when the day of reckoning finally comes for the worst humanity has to offer, as it almost always does, the best of what humanity has to offer will be ready. –

Raymond McGrath, Institute for International Criminal Investigations President
ACCORDING to Transparency International (TI), the police force is commonly identified as one of the most corrupt governmental institutions.
Police-related corruption may comprise of petty corruption where, for example, the public are expected to pay bribes for alleged traffic violations; at the other end of the spectrum, corrupt police officers can conspire with criminals and organised crime gangs in the trafficking of drugs, humans and weapons.
Case studies and literature reveal that there is no “one size fits all” approach to curbing police-related corruption. Case studies demonstrate that any measures must take into consideration the political, economic and social environment of a country and address the root causes of corruption rather than adopting a symptomatic approach.
For example, in Singapore and Georgia, low salaries and poor working conditions for members of the police force were identified as a cause of corruption among lower level police.
Corruption in the police ranges from petty corruption and small acts of bribery to criminal infiltration and political.
However, police corruption is generally categorised into four types:

• PETTY corruption among lower level police officers includes acts of bribery in everyday interactions with citizens (for example, by traffic police). According to Transparency International’s Global Corruption Barometer, the police is the institution most often reported as being the recipient of bribes. For example, in the Middle East and North Africa, one in four people who dealt with police paid a bribe.
• Bureaucratic corruption or administrative corruption refers to the misuse of internal procedures and administrative processes and resources for private gain, such as licensing or a lack of response to citizen’s complaints against police officers.
• Corruption linked with criminal groups includes misconduct such as misleading investigations or tampering with evidence.
• High level or political corruption occurs where high level police officials abuse their power for personal gain or for the benefit of political groups to which they are formally or informally affiliated – in other words, criminal infiltration of the state. Political interference may also occur in police investigations, false investigations and the “framing” of political opponents.

The impact of corruption in the police can be far reaching. When basic functions of law and order are compromised by corrupt practices within a police force, the state cannot legitimately prevent and punish violations of the law or protect human rights.
Police corruption results in public mistrust of the police, rendering it more difficult for the police to perform what should be their primary task, countering crime. It compromises the institutional integrity of a policing system and undermines its legitimacy.
Further, if the public is to respect the law, they must be confident that the police adhere to the law in general, and that, in applying the law, they treat people equally.
A serious result of police corruption is weakening ethical standards in society.
If the public perceives the police to be benefiting from corruption, this could lower their own moral standards and make them more willing to engage in criminal behaviour.
Police corruption can also damage a state’s international reputation if, for example, there is evidence of police involvement in transnational arms, drugs or human trafficking.
In short, police corruption can be harmful to democracy, the role of police in society and the community trust’s in the police force.