ABSTRACT
Criminal investigation is commonly described as reactive and rule-driven. Its basis is the criminal law, which is backward-looking: it punishes people for their past behaviour. This chapter aims to uncover new hybrid phenomena that are emerging at the intersection of intelligence-led and citizen-led policing. The criminalisation of preparatory acts, for the sake of preventing serious crimes such as terrorism and child sexual abuse, is part of a preventive turn in criminal law, whereby the traditional boundaries of criminal law and criminal procedural law are being stretched. In the last decades, the term 'grooming' has increasingly been used to describe preparatory actions for child sexual abuse. The internet offers the groomers anonymity; it enables them to conceal their identity, perhaps by posing as another child. Anticipatory investigation takes a more intelligence-led approach, in anticipation of threats, instead of focusing on gathering evidence for prosecution. Digital vigilantism is indicative of a complicated relationship between state power and citizen counter-power.
