Law Enforcement Executive Forum • 2019 • 19(2) Law Enforcement in the Cyber Domain: Organizational Recommendations Keith Ludwick, PhD, American Public University System, School of Security and Global Studies Abstract The continuing debate regarding Cyber as a true domain of warfare along with land, sea, air, and space has traditionally centered on its application to military policy and operations. However, this debate has yet to be incorporated into the context of law enforcement. This lack of concern raises questions as to how law enforcement executives should consider Cyber within their organizations. Using a grounded theory approach, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s creation of the Cyber Division to analyze some of the positive and negative issues surrounding developing a stand-alone investigative entity concentrating on computer crimes is examined. The research indicates that building stand-alone entities could cause bureaucratic problems and suggests that a hybrid model of a small Cyber component providing training and support, rather than investigative capability, be the best option. Introduction Much of the debate regarding cyber issues cen- ters around the U.S. military declaring Cyber as a stand-alone domain of confict alongside the traditional domains of land, sea, air, and space. Many researchers argue for and against Cyber being a stand-alone domain, while others con- clude it does not matter (Denning, 2015; Libicki, 2012; McGuffn & Mitchell, 2014). Regardless of the conclusions drawn from the military per- spective of the Cyber domain, interestingly, law enforcement has yet to be regularly incorpo- rated into this debate. Law enforcement argu- ably deals with the same concepts of domain when conducting their daily routine of patrol and special operations. Local, state, and fed- eral police operate in the land, sea, and air yet there lacks signifcant study into whether law enforcement should consider Cyber as a sepa- rate domain. 1 The discussion surrounding the military Cyber domain entails similar issues with law enforcement, including Cyber being man-made, Cyber being impossible to control fully, and the extensive training required to understand and operate in the Cyber domain. Based on the lack of empirical research and ambiguity, it is argued in this article that law enforcement should not consider Cyber as a separate domain nor create stand-alone Cyber components, but, rather, cyber investigations should be incorporated into already existing organizational elements. Relevancy Debating the issue of the existence of a Cyber domain is more than a theoretical discussion. It has a real organizational impact for the law enforcement community. Currently, law enforcement agencies of all sizes throughout the United States are struggling with how to incor- porate cyber crimes into their existing organi- zational structures. It seems the federal govern- ment, as well as the states and even some local municipalities, are creating new laws to protect the online activities and privacy of their citizens almost daily. While some agencies have ded- icated Cyber components (Cyber Crime, n.d.), others are struggling to fgure out whether to incorporate Cyber into existing organizational components or create new ones (European 53