1. Follow the Money: Few Federal Grants are Used to Fight Cybercrime
- Author:
- Michael Garcia
- Publication Date:
- 02-2021
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Third Way
- Abstract:
- Like traditional crime, not all cybercrime rises to the level that requires a federal response. And like other crimes, victims will call upon state and local law enforcement to respond.1 They are unprepared. The 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States lack the tools, personnel, and resources to respond to cybercrime effectively. State and locals have turned to federal funding to fill these gaps, but federal government grants do not prioritize combatting cybercrime. The Justice Department (DOJ) has never identified cybercrime as an “Area of Emphasis” for their main criminal justice grant that awards state and local criminal justice agencies $400-$550 million annually.2 And while DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) provided nearly $2 billion that state and local officials could use for cyber enforcement purposes in Fiscal Year (FY) 2019, data from DHS implies that very little is used for cybercrime. Only 2% of all DHS preparedness grant programs were used for all cybersecurity needs in FY 2019.3 Moreover, just three grants in FY 2019 were solely dedicated to cybercrime with a total budget of $12.7 million.4 As a result, only 45% of local law enforcement agencies have access to adequate digital evidence resources, according to one survey. This leads to a backlog of un-analyzed evidence needed to investigate cybercrime and a sense of futility about law enforcement’s ability to close cases.5 While Members of Congress have introduced several bills to create dedicated cybersecurity grant programs for state and local entities, these proposals tend to not include cyber enforcement needs as an eligible expense.6 Moving forward, Congress should: Call on DOJ and DHS to prioritize combatting cybercrime as a main law enforcement issue within their grants. Require prioritization of cyber enforcement needs in grant programs administered by DOJ and DHS in annual appropriations bills; and List cyber enforcement spending as an eligible expense in any bills creating new cybersecurity grant programs for state and local governments.
- Topic:
- Crime, Law Enforcement, Cybersecurity, Police, Justice, and Cyberspace
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America