Walking the walk: practical measures to undermine the business of organised crime

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this article was to argue that developing an understanding of organised crime business structures is a necessary component of a modern effective law enforcement response and this must found on initiatives to improved capture of relevant business intelligence and developments of suitable methods to analyse it.

Design/methodology/approach

Consideration of the dynamics of the challenge set by the business of organised crime, review of relevant academic studies; adaption of a template model to assess organised crime business structures; description of how this informs a new initiative being currently undertaken within Police Scotland under the name of “Project Jackal”.

Findings

Project Jackal rolled out in the summer of 2014. Report on experience will follow in subsequent papers.

Research limitations/implications

Further research and reporting on field experience is implied.

Practical implications

Development of more effective business intelligence capture by law enforcement and of analytical methods to exploit this intelligence against organised crime.

Social implications

Protection of communities and commerce from the corruptive influence of organised crime.

Originality/value

To stimulate discussion on methods and responses to tackle the challenges outlined.

Citation

Murray, K.R. (2015), "Walking the walk: practical measures to undermine the business of organised crime", Journal of Financial Crime, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp. 199-207. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFC-05-2014-0024