Gone are the days when most crime involved breaking into a car or stealing a wallet.
Today, the biggest threats might be online scams, AI-generated child exploitation, image-based abuse, or crimes committed for social media clout. But it’s not just crime that’s changing – how we fight it and who’s doing the fighting is changing too.
Then vs now: crime is changing
In the past, most crimes were overt and easy to spot: a broken window, a stolen car, a physical altercation. Police patrolled the streets, dealt with local issues, and most crimes were handled in the town or state they happened in.
But today, crime often doesn’t happen in one place … and it doesn’t always leave fingerprints.
Many of the biggest threats now come through a screen.
Cyber scams, online child exploitation, identity theft, and even extremist radicalisation can happen on platforms like gaming apps, messaging services, or social media.
Tools are becoming more sophisticated with technologies like artificial intelligence, deepfakes, and encrypted networks that allow offenders to impersonate others, spread false information, or hide their criminal activity.
These crimes can be coordinated from overseas, making them harder to track and even harder to stop.
And crime is changing in everyday life too. We didn’t used to get packages delivered to our front doors but now porch theft is common in most neighbourhoods.
Smartwatches have helped identify murderers by tracking people’s movements and heart rates. In one case, Alexa is believed to have called police after overhearing a violent household argument. However, doubts have been cast over that particular claim.
It’s not just how crimes are committed that’s changing but also why and by whom. People might offend today not just for money, but for influence, revenge, or even attention on social media.
Offenders might be part of a global crime network, but they might also be a teenager with a laptop, or someone caught up in online misinformation.
In a world where jobs are uncertain, inequality is rising, and people feel more divided than ever, crime is sometimes driven by frustration, fear, or the promise of quick success.
As the College of Policing puts it, “trends such as nationalism, rising inequality and increasingly resonant disinformation could cause societies to become more divided.”
How we respond is changing too
It’s not just crime that’s changed, but also how we respond to it.
Policing used to be mostly about foot patrols, chasing suspects, and locking up offenders. And sure, that still happens.
But today’s police work looks more like something out of a sci-fi movie with officers tracking cyber criminals across international networks, working alongside data analysts, psychologists, social workers, and even artificial intelligence.
Modern problems need modern teams. To fight online child exploitation, for example, police now partner with tech companies, digital forensics experts, and mental health professionals.
They might use AI tools to predict and prevent crimes, or work with global agencies like INTERPOL to trace criminal activity across borders.
And the job itself is evolving. According to INTERPOL, the police officer of the future will need digital skills, cultural awareness, and even metaverse-readiness (yes, really).
Reporting may become partly automated, and officers might be equipped with augmented reality eyewear, smart drones, and predictive data tools in their everyday work.
Routine patrols might involve virtual surveillance using facial recognition, rather than walking the beat.
Criminal investigations increasingly rely on technology too. Analysts use AI to sift through massive amounts of data, flag risky patterns, and spot potential offenders or victims before anything happens.
In 2023, Australian police participated in Operation Renewed Hope which was a global effort to identify victims of child sexual exploitation using Clearview AI, successfully identifying 311 abused children, including Australian victims.
But it’s not all gadgets and code. As the AFP points out, community trust, diversity, and emotional intelligence are just as important as high-tech skills.
Officers need to reflect the communities they serve, and they need to be equipped to work in teams where everyone brings different expertise.
In the not-too-distant future, police officers might wear augmented reality glasses, fly drones on patrol, or even respond to incidents inside the metaverse.
Forget chasing criminals down alleyways – tomorrow’s police might be investigating avatars and crime scenes made of pixels.
What this means for criminology careers
So what does all of this mean if you’re thinking about studying Criminology?
It means you’ll be in demand!
Criminologists are no longer just sitting behind desks studying crime statistics (although, yes – some of us do love a good graph).
Today’s Criminology graduates are working everywhere from frontline crime prevention to policy-making, tech companies, and even international intelligence agencies.
You might find criminologists:
- Investigating online child exploitation or cyber fraud
- Helping design crime-prevention strategies in neighbourhoods
- Supporting victims of domestic violence or image-based abuse
- Rehabilitating offenders
- Researching how misinformation spreads online
- Advising on disaster responses or climate-related crime
- Working on reforms in prisons, courts, or policing
And employers are just as varied from government departments (like Police, Youth Justice, and Corrections), to intelligence and security agencies, non-profits and advocacy groups supporting victims and rehabilitating offenders, private companies working in cyber safety and crime prevention, social media platforms managing online harms, and research organisations and universities shaping future policies.
In fact, if you do a quick search on Seek.com, you’ll find hundreds of new criminology-related jobs posted every month across roles in intelligence, investigations, policy, youth work, and digital safety.
Why It Matters
Understanding crime isn’t just about catching “bad guys” … it’s about creating safer, fairer communities for everyone.
Criminology helps us ask big, important questions:
- Why do people commit crime?
- What kinds of responses actually work (and which ones make things worse)?
- How can we stop crime before it happens?
If you’re curious about people, society, justice, or technology, then Criminology is for you. Whether you want to change the system, support victims, fight online harm, or simply understand the world better, you can be part of the solution.
Media enquiries: Please contact the Media Team media@usc.edu.au