Solving Crimes Online: The Contribution of Citizens on the Reddit Bureau of Investigation

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The development of digital technology has led to the emergence of new types of citizen security initiatives. This article explores four forms of online citizen contributions to crime governance, derived from the social sciences and humanities: non-institutionalized surveillance work, crowdsourced policing, online vigilantes, and civilian policing. The issues raised by each of these forms of contribution shed light on the results of an exploratory observation process within the Reddit Bureau of Investigation, an internet forum for citizens wishing to solve crimes. The results point to the key role played by digital and surveillance technology in the emergence of these practices and of new conceptions of the role of citizens in the governance of crime, to the construction of a common identity in reaction to the figure of vigilantism, and to the deployment of laypersons’ investigative expertise.