The most important mechanism for crime prevention is just the presence of guardians. Some counter arguments against this thesis are discussed and rejected. By manipulating the presence of guardians it is possible to influence the level of prevention. It is argued that a large scale evaluation of such measures is wanted.

This article focuses on mobile organized criminal groups that travel through Europe and commit a broad range of property crimes. The study aims to explore the perspective of individual group members. Information was gathered from fifteen criminal investigations that were carried out in the Netherlands in recent years (2013-2016). The study shows that members of these crime groups view their criminal activities primarily as ‘work’. It is work that is characterized by conflicts and consensus. Conflicts often have to do with the stolen loot and reveal disagreement about leadership, rules and obedience. Rows and threats of violence go along with feelings of fear and distrust. At the same time gang members belong to an international deviant community with a shared common way of life and feelings of togetherness. Performing within this international community gives the possibility to attain social status and to express success and richness. These contractive emotions and symbolic meanings characterize the everyday life of gang members and motivates their daily practices.

In this study the authors examined a criminal youth gang of 35 persons in the Netherlands, using social network analysis, to answer the following questions. To what extent is it possible by means of police records to estimate the size of the complete social network of this criminal youth gang? To what extent are members of this original group part of the core of the complete network? To what extent have members of the original group a central position in the complete network (key players) and are, as such, responsible for holding the complete network together? Information is derived from police records. Results show that the size of the total network of this criminal youth gang consists of 593 individuals with a core of around hundred persons. Seven persons were identified as key players, among which six persons belonged to the original group. The social network approach in this study provides police and justice important indications for a more tailored approach regarding individuals within criminal networks.

Criminal groups have traditionally been the focus of criminological research because of the collective dimension of many criminal activities or deviance. However, what constitutes a ‘criminal group’ or how specific criminal groups, like gangs, should be defined, remains open for discussion in the scientific literature. This introductory article highlights a number of recent developments illustrating the blurring boundaries between various criminal groups as defined by both insiders and outsiders. In addition, it suggests that the rise of social media and smartphones is changing the structure and dynamics of criminal groups. Future research should focus on how these (new) criminal groups originate, develop and function, but should also address the role of the group in criminal activities.

This paper describes the results of twelve criminal investigations into criminal activities of hardcore supporters of a Dutch soccer club. The information from these criminal investigations consists of among other 74,246 transcribed, wiretapped telephone conversations and 643 pages with transcribed, secretly recorded conversations in cars (between March 2009 and June 2013). The organization and execution of these criminal activities (particularly large-scale drugs trade and extortion) is described within the context of the daily activities of these hardcore supporters. This context consists of regularly visiting soccer games (in the Netherlands and abroad), bars and the supportershome, and the subculture of hooliganism. The results show a criminal group using the opportunity structures related to hooliganism for carrying out criminal activities.

This study contains a qualitative framing analysis of outlaw motor clubs in Dutch newspaper articles. These clubs appear in the news as a source for positive framing to counterbalance the prevailing organized crime frame. The study shows with what rhetorical means club members are framed and how news media balance a criminal and a non-criminal image. In news articles club members refer to ethical norms and group values, and appear to employ mitigation strategies which take the hard edges off the frame and simultaneously increase their credibility.

Collective violence around football has been a topic of research since the 1980s. In the Netherlands, in recent decades the size and severity of this problem have decreased sharply and the number of incidents has stabilized due to measures taken. At the same time, these measures have resulted in an increase of football-related incidents outside stadiums and on other days than match days. Confrontations based upon prior mutual agreements, so-called arranged confrontations, are an example of this. Based on multiple research methods, in this article the underlying causes of arranged confrontations and processes influencing individual participation are addressed. Results show that this type of collective violence and partaking in it has various causes and explanations. These fit with extant research literature in the area of group crime and collective violence and are incorporated in the recently developed initiation-escalation model.

Drawing on material from her extensive study of Russian organized crime, the author sketches a portrait of Semjon Mogilevitsj. This Russian ‘godfather’ enjoys the reputation of being the smartest and highest educated mafia boss worldwide. Indeed Mogilevitsj obtained a master’s degree in Economics with good results, but this alone doesn’t explain his phenomenal successes in criminal as well as in legal business. Describing the steady expansion of his criminal activities from Russia into Israel, the United States, Eastern Europa, Italy and Canada, the author suggests that the social and economic circumstances in Russia just before and during the collapse of the Soviet Union might have served as an ideal playing ground for Mogilevitsj to develop the specific social intelligence and skills needed to successfully run a criminal organization.

While contract killings by organized crime groups are by no means new to the Netherlands (with around twenty to thirty cases a year over the last few decades), there is reason to believe that the nature of the killings has changed. The key question of this article is which recent developments can be identified in relation to the phenomenon of contract killings. The availability of new groups of hitmen and new means has led to a number of changes in modus operandi for contract killings within organized crime. On the one hand, there is a process of professionalization when it comes to methods of observation and counterstrategies, which involves the use of the latest technological tools. The digitization of resources and traces plays a significant part in this. On the other hand, the perpetrators are resorting to much coarser methods for the actual killings. This may be attributed to the abundance of heavy firearms available in the Netherlands and to new inexperienced homegrown hitmen, who are willing to kill in exchange for payment.

Contract killings in the Netherlands have been a common phenomenon for the last two decades. In those two decades, the killings have become more violent and they are often executed in public spaces. Despite their big societal impact, scientific research into the contract killings is not available. This article aims to broaden the empirical basis of contract killings by studying the killings through crime script analysis. The focus of the article is on the objects and facilitators necessary for the preparations of the killings. First, the analysis of six police files showed that stolen vehicles, machine guns, and technical equipment like encrypted phones and tracking equipment are very often used in the preparation of a contract killing. Second, spy shops facilitated the contract killings by ensuring safe communication for the hitmen and by using tracking equipment the specific location of the victim is easily available. Finally, the analysis shows that hitmen were hired to execute the killings.

In deze trending topics wordt de bijdrage van vertrekkend hoogleraar Henk van de Bunt aan het criminologisch onderzoek op het terrein van het financieel-economisch strafrecht besproken.

Op grond van artikel 13b Opiumwet kan de burgemeester een woning sluiten ter bestrijding van strafbare feiten uit de Opiumwet. De woningsluiting kan niet worden aangemerkt als een bestraffende sanctie.

De rechter oordeelt ogenschijnlijk snel dat voorwerpen waarvan is bewezenverklaard dat zij zijn witgewassen wederrechtelijk voordeel zijn en miskent hierdoor het reparatoire karakter van de ontnemingsmaatregel, namelijk dat alleen de criminele verdiensten mogen worden afgepakt. De rechter moet de schatting van het WVV voldoende motiveren en onderzoek doen naar het daadwerkelijke WVV van betrokkene.
De verbeurdverklaring is een mogelijk alternatief voor de ontnemingsprocedure in geval van witwassen: voorwerpen kunnen worden afgepakt zonder dat het bezit ervan ten laste wordt gelegd, zonder dat de verdachte het nog bezit of in een situatie waarin een verdachte het bij een ander heeft veiliggesteld.

This empirical study examines how criminal investigative police officers (re)construct a criminal case and the vulnerabilities of their logic.The investigation process is analyzed through Goffman’s framing and interaction theories. While Goffman’s theories have been widely applied to other disciplines, such contributions remain rare in criminology. Here, they shed light on how detectives understand and give meaning to the situation surrounding the criminal case they encounter. The results indicate that this approach shows promise for improving our understanding of the investigative process, if complemented by other theoretical views.