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

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.