Self-study
Even if a crime that has been committed by computer is discovered and reported, the odds of being both arrested and convicted greatly favor the criminal.
Precise Definitions
This question does an excellent job distilling a core lesson: the precise definitions of words matter immensely. Answers that strengthen (which, in this EXCEPT question, are wrong answers) must pertain narrowly to the odds of arrest and conviction.
The stimulus explicitly controls for crimes being discovered and reported, so information that suggests computer crimes are difficult to discover or report is out of scope. Beyond that, though, information about anything other than arrest or conviction is out of scope. If computer crimes are punished less harshly, that doesn’t matter. If they’re more often pardoned by governors or the president, that doesn’t matter.
10.
Each of the following, if █████ ████████ ███ █████ █████ ███████
a
The preparation of ██████████████ █████ █████ ████ ████ ████ ████ ██ ████████ ███ ███████ █████ ██████ ███ ███ ████████████ ██ ███████████ ██ █████████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ ████ █████ █████
This provides a reason why convictions are less common for computer crimes. They take a long time, and prosecutors have incentives to focus on faster cases.
b
In most police ████████████ ████████ ███ ███████ ███████ █████████ ███████████ █████ ███ ██ █████ ██████ █ ███████ ████ ████ ██ █████ ██ ██████ ██████████ ██ █ ██████████████ █████████████
This provides a reason why arrests are less common for computer crimes. Cops don’t spend enough time in the computer crimes unit to get good at investigating them.
c
The priorities of █████ ██████ ████████████ █████ █████ ████████████ ████ ████████ █████ ██████ ███ ████████ ██████ ███████ ██████ █████ ████ ███████████ ████████ ██ ████████████
This provides a reason why arrests are less common for computer crimes. Cops prioritize other types of crime.
d
Computer criminals have ██████ ████ █████████ ██ █████ ████ ██ ███████ ███████ ███████ ███ ███████████ ████ ███████ █████████ ███ ████ ██████████
This provides a reason why jail time is less common for computer crimes, but sentencing comes after arrest and conviction. This supports the idea that computer crimes are punished less harshly, but doesn’t explain why either arrest or conviction are less likely.
e
The many police ████████ ███ ███ █████████ ██ █████████ █████ █████████████ ███████ ███ ████████ ████████ ██ ████████ ██████
This provides a reason why arrest and/or conviction are less common for computer crimes. If dumb cops are destroying evidence, they’re more likely either to fail to catch the criminal or ruin the prosecution’s case.