In 1986, when the San Jose Police Department became the first local law enforcement agency in the nation to add a high- tech crimes detail, fewer than 10,000 computers--most of them government and university mainframes--were connected to the Internet. The word "Internet"--and the concept of crime on it--would not enter the public consciousness until 1988, with the release of the first widespread virus, the "Morris Worm." In the beginning, the unit consisted of just one sergeant and one officer, and the focus was on the millions of dollars worth of components disappearing off the loading docks of the city's high- tech manufacturers.
Today a handful of other metropolitan police departments have similar units, but San Jose's team still occupies a singular position. "They are the leader in the nation," says Lee Curtis, Silicon Valley chapter president for the international High Technology Crime Investigation Association. "They're clearly the largest and the best."
Of the approximately 25 cases the team has open at any given time, between 50 percent and 70 percent are component thefts and related fraud. In terms of sheer dollar value, chips are still where the action is. The team's second largest responsibility is supporting other parts of the department--from burglary to homicide. (Whenever a computer is believed to be involved in a crime, it's the team's job to do the seizure and the forensic search for evidence).
The Internet slice of the job--chasing down hackers, stalkers and assorted scammers--is too small to even keep statistics on. When pressed for a guess, Sgt. Don Brister, the unit's supervisor, estimates that Internet and online-service crimes make up "probably no more than 3 or 4 percent" of the team's workload.
Brister, 44, and the unit's four investigators are all veteran cops, with lengthy experience in other details ranging from homicide to fraud to narcotics. But it's hard to think of any prior assignment that could prepare them to police a territory that has no borders, few maps and few fixed addresses.
Ask the San Jose team or others in the field what proportion of Net crime ever appears on the criminal-justice radar and they'll say, in essence: We are equipped with computers and modems, but no psychic hotline. "We're putting out fires," says an exasperated Curtis. "We're reacting to who yells the loudest. We don't go looking for victims. How much of this problem is getting through to us? I don't know. It's like asking what percent of America doesn't file tax returns."
Of the Net fraud that does get reported, the loss is often too small to meet the threshold for an investigation. "It is really not worth the time going through the criminal justice system spending $10,000 for a $200 loss," says Brister, a 22-year SJPD veteran who transferred to the high-tech unit a year ago after a stint in fraud. "Often, with just a couple hours work on our end, we're able to satisfy the victim. By making a couple of phone calls and maybe a couple of personal contacts, we can solve the problem but not have to get the full system committed."
Stalking, harassment and other Net crimes that threaten lives take precedence over property crimes. But once the immediate threat has passed, victims are often hesitant to press forward with an investigation. The person making the threats "is often someone who the victim has met online and discussed personal things with," Brister says. Many of those victims decide not to pursue the matter because of fear a spouse or significant other may learn of the digital dalliances. "I think the fear among victims of being found out sometimes has been a big mind- changer," Brister says.