A qualitative exploration of the challenges the Danish police face in dealing with cybercrime

Sammanfattning: Cybercrimes have been rapidly increasing over the past decade becoming more sophisticated and increasing victimization, resulting in an increased load of the police in the effort to prevent and stop these crimes. This study explores the challenges the Danish police encounter facing cybercrime and their approach to preventing it. The data were collected through interviewing individuals on a managing level in two different departments dealing with cybercrime within the Danish police force. The data were analyzed thematically to identify key issues. The main challenges found being; the time frame the police has to act upon in reference to the nature of the data, the culture that exists on the internet and distinguishing jokes from threats, the effortlessness of criminals justifying once actions, and the visible presence of the police on the internet. The primary focus of prevention to deal with some of these issues is moving towards creating a healthy network between the police and the private sector, in an effort to create a shared responsibility and a forum of which information can be shared to create a possible united front towards cybercrime.