New Indiana law establishes specialized units to help prosecutors with high-tech crimes

Indiana legislators are seeking to crack down on high-tech crimes, with plans to provide technical assistance and training to local prosecutors related to the collection of evidence and other investigatory needs.

HB 1082, signed into law in April, defines a high-tech crime as a criminal act “committed with or assisted by digital evidence, network or communications technology.” It calls for the creation of high-tech crime units representing the north, south, east and west parts of Indiana. The Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council — a nonpartisan, independent state judicial branch agency composed of Indiana’s 91 prosecuting attorneys — is authorized to seek proposals from up to 10 counties to create these high-tech crime units.

According to the FBI, the top three internet crimes reported by victims in 2020 were phishing scams, non-payment/non-delivery scams and extortion. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center reported the following number of complaints made in each Midwestern state:

• Illinois — 20,185
• Indiana — 12,786
• Iowa — 9,367
• Kansas — 3,457
• Michigan — 12,521
• Minnesota — 6,847
• Nebraska — 2,166
• North Dakota — 760
• Ohio — 13,421
• South Dakota — 777
• Wisconsin — 8,308