Criminal Networks

This project was undertaken by an external, independent researcher to explore, and provide information about, an issue or topic. Opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or the Government of Canada.

by

Vincent Lemieux, Ph.D.
Université Laval
vlemieux@sympatico.ca

Research and Evaluation Branch
Community, Contract and Aboriginal Policing Services Directorate
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Ottawa, March 2003

Opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or the Government of Canada.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Criminal Businesses and Networks
• The Characteristics of Criminal Networks
  • Size of the Networks
  • Loose Couplings and Weak Ties
  • The Nature of Ties
  • The Central Actors
  • Communication and Control
  • Redundancy in Networks
  • The Various Roles in A Criminal Network
  • Combatting Criminal Networks
  • Self-Protection in Criminal Networks
• Limited Knowledge of Criminal Networks
• Some Strategic Elements
• Conclusion
• Works Cited

Introduction

This report on criminal networks is divided into three parts dealing with the following elements:

1. Criminal organizations are both networks and businesses. This report, however, deals more with criminal networks than with businesses.
2. Criminal organizations, when viewed as networks, have characteristics common to other social networks, but also have specific characteristics that largely relate to the fact that these organizations are criminal businesses.
3. The self-protection measures undertaken by criminal networks, as well as the limiting of knowledge, make combatting the networks difficult. The fact remains, however, that strategic elements for this fight have been suggested by criminal network specialists.

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