The COVID-19 virus pandemic marked 2020 for the world community. Almost all countries on the planet introduced lockdowns on their territory, not allowing people to leave their homes; in some states, these bans are still affected. Complex restrictions have changed people’s lifestyles, work, and leisure activities. Since, at the moment, society is forced to exist according to new rules, the nature of the crimes committed has changed. In 2020, many companies and even entire sectors of the economy went digital, sending employees to work remotely.
Consequently, the nature of crimes committed in the United States has also changed. The number of violations of the law related to cyber security and information technology has increased – hacking of personal accounts in the financial sector and social networks, telephone fraud (Mohsin, 2020). It is worth noting the massive protests that took place in the country for social and political reasons. Although, in fact, within the framework of the rallies, administrative and criminal offenses were committed, events of this nature indicate dissatisfaction with certain aspects of public policy rather than increased crimes.
The primary sources of information on corruption in the United States are the official channels The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program (UCR) and the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). The most crucial difference between the two is that the UCR provides information on known crimes but cannot reflect an unreported crime. The NCVS measure targets both registered and unreported victimizations, aiding researchers in identifying hidden abuses that the UCR cannot track. It is worth noting the importance of unofficial sources in the form of social networks. With the development of civil society and an increase in the population’s information content, some local and federal crimes can be quickly learned from the accounts of official departments and ordinary users who turned out to be witnesses.
Reference
Mohsin, K. (2020). Global perspective of cybercrimes and related laws. Web.