Flow Chart and Road Map in Law Enforcement: The Case of Organised Crime
| Author | Petter Gottschalk |
| Published date | 01 December 2008 |
| Date | 01 December 2008 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1350/pojo.2008.81.4.444 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
PETTER GOTTSCHALK
Professor of knowledge management in criminology,
Department of Leadership and Organisation Management,
Norwegian School of Management BI, Oslo, Norway
FLOW CHART AND ROAD MAP IN
LAW ENFORCEMENT: THE CASE
OF ORGANISED CRIME
Police forces in many nations are making substantial progress
in knowledge management to fight organised crime. As organ-
ised crime becomes more sophisticated and transnational, there
is a need for new insights and new law enforcement proced-
ures. This article makes a contribution by classifying criminal
organisations into criminal industries, identifying organised
crime by means of a flow chart, and presenting a road-map for
law enforcement to apply in organised crime policing.
Keywords: criminal industries; criminal organisations;
enterprise paradigm; knowledge management; policing;
strategy
Introduction
Symeonidou-Kastanidou (2007) argues that there is a need for a
new definition of organised crime, where entrepreneurial struc-
ture is included as an important element. An entrepreneur is a
person who operates a new enterprise or venture and assumes
some accountability for the inherent risks. The view on entrepre-
neurial talent is that this is found in a person who takes the risks
involved to undertake a business venture. Entrepreneurship is
often difficult and tricky, as many new ventures fail. In the
context of the creation of for-profit enterprises, entrepreneur is
often synonymous with founder. Business entrepreneurs often
have strong beliefs about a market opportunity and are willing to
accept a high level of personal, professional or financial risk to
pursue that opportunity.
To fight organised crime, there is a need to understand
criminal organisations. For too long, law enforcement agencies
around the world seem more concerned about tough law enforce-
ment actions rather than appropriate law enforcement actions
based on new insights about organised crime. To understand
organised crime, a flow chart to identify criminal organisations is
The Police Journal, Volume 81 (2008) 279
DOI: 10.1358/pojo.2008.81.4.444
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