Book Review: Information Technology and the Criminal Justice System
| Author | Robin Bryant |
| DOI | 10.1177/146680250600600110 |
| Published date | 01 February 2006 |
| Date | 01 February 2006 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
April Pattavina (ed.)
Information Technology and the Criminal Justice System
London: Sage Publications, 2005. 293 pp. £62.00 ISBN 0–7619–3018–3
(hbk); £31.00 ISBN 0–7619–3019–1 (pbk)
•Reviewed by Robin Bryant, Canterbury Christ Church University, UK
The authors of chapters in this collection are, in the main, academics from
universities in the United States. However, David Wall (2005) will be more
familiar to British readers and his contribution in Chapter 4 will be of
particular value to criminology and policing students in the United Kingdom
embarking upon courses involving the study of new technology crime. Wall has
made explicit in a recent article in Criminal Justice Matters the importance of
‘conceptual clarity’ in debating the meaning and criminology of cybercrime and
his chapter is important background reading. The US focus is apparent through
most of the book. Chapter 5, for example, is an in-depth examination of the
National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). UK high-tech crime in-
vestigators will need to be particularly cautious when reading the chapters that
cover the legal aspects of cybercrime investigation (e.g. Chapter 3) as codes of
practice do vary in certain key respects each side of the Atlantic.
The book is divided into five sections. However, the logic for this approach
is not always obvious. For example, in the first section the reader is offered an
historical overview of information technology and the criminal justice system
followed by ‘Acquiring, Implementing and Evaluating Information Technol-
ogy’ and both under the general heading of ‘Advances in Criminal Justice
Information Technology’. It was not clear, at least not to this reader, why
these two chapters were grouped together. Similarly the organization of
chapters appears to follow authors’ preferences rather than subscribing to any
kind of ‘house style’. Some for example finish with a ‘Summary’ or a
‘Conclusion’ others a ‘Discussion’ followed by either ‘Notes’ or ‘References’
(and in some cases both).
In the preface, the editor states that ‘the book is about the impact that
advances in information technology have had on the criminal justice system
over the past decades’ (p. ix). This is an ambitious undertaking. As examples of
the ‘impact’ we are offered chapters on the use of Geographical Information
Systems and Crime Mapping (Chapter 7), Cybercrime (Chapter 4) and In-
formation, Technology and Criminal Justice Education (Chapter 11). This is
akin to, say, a book on information technology and the National Health Service
containing chapters on automated appointment systems, computer models of
epidemiology and the software used for scanning for disease. Just because
information technology is integral to them all does not mean that it is a
common explanatory factor. Pattavina is also aware of the danger that the
detail surrounding information technology ‘would likely to be outdated by the
time this work is published’ (p. ix). Perhaps inevitably, that danger has not
quite been avoided although the authors should be complimented for their
Criminology & Criminal Justice 6(1)152
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