Dietzenbacher, Hannah (2022) Criminal network disruption; A simulation study on the effectiveness of law enforcement intervention strategies. Master thesis, Sociology.
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Dietzenbacher, H.I. - Criminal network disruption; A simulation study on the effectiveness of law enforcement intervention strategies.pdf Download (2MB) | Preview |
Abstract
ABSTRACT This research deals with effectiveness of disruptive and dismantling law enforcement interventions. Unique Dutch Police data were applied to the crime setting of synthetic drug production and trafficking, to assess the effectiveness of five law enforcement interventions. Three interventions targeted actors with high social capital (i.e., degree, betweenness, and closeness centrality targeting) and two interventions targeted actors that possessed high social and human capital – or network capital (i.e., information and skills/knowledge targeting). By means of social network simulations – in which network adaptation had (or had not been) included – these five intervention strategies were tested, removing actors from the network accordingly. The effectiveness of each intervention was subsequently evaluated, using multiple outcome measures for disruption on a network-level (i.e., number of steps until the network was disrupted, fragmentation, and efficiency) and extensive analyses on actor-level. The results showed that targeting actors based on betweenness centrality – and thus actors with high social capital – was the most effective law enforcement intervention strategy, as it: (1) dismantled the network consistently in the least number of steps, (2) produced the fastest fragmentation of the network, and (3) showed the steepest decrease in the ability of the network to operate efficiently. Furthermore, the actor-level analyses showed that the shifts that can occur in the network-structure in the aftermath of disruptive interventions have to be taken into consideration throughout the entire law enforcement operation. Actors that might initially seem unimportant, could become key players in the continuation of the organisational process following such interventions. Research findings were discussed in the context of restricted data availability that law enforcement faces. With the rise of intelligence-led policing, this study has formed an important step in dynamic and realistic interventions for combatting organised synthetic drug crime. Keywords Criminal networks; synthetic drug production and trafficking; social network analysis; crime script analysis; computer simulations; law enforcement interventions
| Item Type: | Thesis (Master) |
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| Supervisor name: | Stulp, G. and Huitsing, G.E. |
| Degree programme: | Sociology |
| Differentiation route: | Criminaliteit en Veiligheid [Master Sociology] |
| Date Deposited: | 15 Jul 2022 11:49 |
| Last Modified: | 15 Jul 2022 11:49 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/984 |
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