Building Illicit Partnerships a Mile at a Time: Spatial Coverage and Criminal Network Structure

• In Event: Recent Advances in Network Approaches to Study Gangs and Criminal Organizations

Abstract

Environmental criminologists have consistently provided insight to improve our understanding of the geographic coverage of individual offenders. The spatial features of organized crime have not been investigated as thoroughly, despite its relevance in examining complex crimes that involve cross-border illicit activities. The current paper examines the association between spatial reach and the structural configuration of partnerships in criminal networks. Information on organized crime networks in Canada, provided by the Criminal Intelligence Service of Alberta (CISA) was used to investigate the spatial dimension of relational structures. The supplied dataset contained information on 3,596 individuals and 243 crime groups, gathered through a wide array of police activities, including surveillance operations, criminal investigations and debriefing of confidential informants. The database connected people, places, offences and organized crime groups. Exponential random graph models were used to examine tie formation and geographic reach. Results indicate that links to more places and countries, and a higher overall geographic reach, increased the chances of ties emerging between individuals. Geography also proved to have a homophily effect, as network participants tended to associate with others that had similar spatial coverage. Findings suggest that geographic reach plays a relevant role in explaining the structural arrangement of illicit networks.

Authors

• Carlos Ponce, Simon Fraser University

• Martin Bouchard, Simon Fraser University