A National Strategy to Combat Identity Theft (Paperback)

Identity theft has swiftly become a serious issue for victims, police, and prosecutors, and is a problem that is requiring an increased commitment of resources by private enterprise. The Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA) recognized the severity of this problem in 2003 and surveyed its members to explore police-related identity theft issues. Survey results demonstrated that deterring identity theft was impeded for the most part because police departments were functioning in isolation from each other and other parts of the criminal justice system. The MCCA concluded that new levels of prevention, response, and collaboration were needed to stop this rapidly increasing crime. The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (the COPS Office), equally concerned, funded a project to examine the issues and develop recommendations for a national strategy for policy makers and to identify best practices for practitioners. The MCCA, the Division of Public Safety Leadership (DPSL) at Johns Hopkins University, and the COPS Office conducted this project. The purpose of the project was to identify common practices and to develop components that would comprise a national strategy for law enforcement. (Other nations currently pursuing national strategies include Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.) To gain greater insight into the challenges facing police in responding to the identity theft problem, the MCCA and the DPSL conducted two surveys to obtain a broad base of information from police and others on the problem and potential solutions. The project also organized two focus groups comprising police, prosecutors, federal official, victim assistance professionals, and representatives from the private sector. The first focus group discussed the problem in detail, shared experiences, and provided the background needed to develop the surveys. The second focus group discussed the survey results, framed recommendations for a national response to identity theft, and identified best practices. Participants are listed in Appendix B. This report, A National Strategy to Combat Identity Theft, describes the components of a national strategy, the interrelationships of the components, and best practices to illustrate each component. The components of a national strategy include: Partnerships and Collaboration, Reporting Procedures, Victim Assistance, Public Awareness, Legislation, Information Protection, and Training. The full national strategy report contains examples of best practices and chapters that discuss the problem of defining the terms related to identity theft, the process for developing the national strategy, and the description.