Organized Crime Group Detection
In this chapter, we propose a new computational approach to organized crime group detection based on a social network analysis perspective. A challenging aspect is the need for a precise definition of what exactly constitutes a criminal organization. Conf
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Organized Crime Group Detection
In this chapter, we propose a new computational approach to organized crime group detection based on a social network analysis perspective. A challenging aspect is the need for a precise definition of what exactly constitutes a criminal organization. Confronted with a bewildering diversity of characteristics in definitions of organized crime and criminal organizations, the conceptual model of organized crime appears not clearly rendered in the literature—at least not for the purpose of computational analysis [3, 6, 8, 10, 18, 20]. Striving for a general and open definition, a natural source is the criminal code, although this depends on the specific country. Starting from the definition of criminal organization in the Criminal Code of Canada [10], we focus on methodical and analytical aspects in utilizing social network analysis methods for organized crime group detection. The main goal is to promote co-offending network analysis as an effective means for extracting information about criminal organizations from police-reported crime data. We contend that it would be virtually impossible to obtain such information by using traditional crime analysis methods. The approach described here comprises three major building blocks: (1) a group detection method, an extension of the clique percolation method [14], to match a working definition of offender group; (2) a crime assessment method which covers and formalizes common characteristics of organized crime found in the criminology literature; (3) a group evolution model for analyzing offender group behaviour over the observable life cycle of a group. Section 4.1 discusses related work. Section 4.2 introduces the concepts and the terminology, and the problem definition. Section 4.3 presents the organized crime group detection framework. Next, Sect. 4.4 discusses our experimental results on the BC crime dataset. Section 4.5 concludes this chapter.
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 M.A. Tayebi, U. Glässer, Social Network Analysis in Predictive Policing, Lecture Notes in Social Networks, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-41492-8_4
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4 Organized Crime Group Detection
4.1 Background Studying prominent historical research on how organized crime developed in New York City, Block [3] concludes that “organized crime was not only more fragmented and chaotic than believed, but also it involved webs of influence that linked criminals with those in positions of power in the political and economic world.” He argues that these patterns of affiliation and influence were far more important than any formal structure, since they allowed criminals to maximize opportunities, and should be considered a social system. The social system of organized crime [3]: . . . refers to the notion that organized crime is a phenomenon recognizable by reciprocal services performed by professional criminals, politicians, and clients. Organized crime is thus understood to lie in the relationships binding members of the underworld to upperworld institutions and i
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