In her essay “The Cyber Sleuth,” Geraldine Brooks introduces Jarod Koopman, a multifaceted individual who serves as the Executive Director of Cyber and Forensics for the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation division. Brooks begins by describing Koopman teaching Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Hamburg, New York, demonstrating how this martial art allows a smaller person to overcome a larger opponent—a metaphor for his professional work tracking down powerful criminals through digital means.

The essay highlights how Koopman and his cybercrime team have achieved remarkable successes largely unknown to US citizens. Their accomplishments include rescuing numerous children from sexual abuse, seizing hundreds of thousands of child exploitation videos, arresting hundreds of alleged pedophiles, and intercepting cryptocurrency destined for terrorist organizations including Hamas, Al-Qaeda, and the Islamic State. Their work also led to the prosecution of Changpeng Zhao, head of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, for regulatory violations. Over a decade, the team has recovered more than $12 billion for crime victims and the US Treasury.

Brooks contrasts these achievements with the negative public perception of the IRS, noting that even the IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel acknowledges the agency’s unpopularity. She explains how anti-tax sentiment led to budget cuts that reduced the IRS workforce to levels not seen since the 1970s, despite population growth and increased tax filings.