This book examines the use of social network analysis (SNA) in operational environments from the perspective of those who actually apply it. A rapidly growing body of literature suggests that SNA can reveal significant insights into the overall structure of criminal networks as well as the position of critical actors within such groups. This book draws on the existing SNA and intelligence literature, as well as qualitative interviews with crime intelligence analysts from two Australian state law enforcement agencies to understand its use by law enforcement agencies and the extent to which it can be used in practice. It includes a discussion of the challenges that analysts face when attempting to apply various network analysis techniques to criminal networks. Overall, it advances SNA as an investigative tool, and provides a significant contribution to the field that will be of interest to both researchers and practitioners interested in social network analysis, intelligence analysis and law enforcement.

This book focuses on applications of social network analysis in predictive policing. Data science is used to identify potential criminal activity by analyzing the relationships between offenders to fully understand criminal collaboration patterns. Co-offending networks—networks of offenders who have committed crimes together—have long been recognized by law enforcement and intelligence agencies as a major factor in the design of crime prevention and intervention strategies. Despite the importance of co-offending network analysis for public safety, computational methods for analyzing large-scale criminal networks are rather premature. This book extensively and systematically studies co-offending network analysis as effective tool for predictive policing. The formal representation of criminological concepts presented here allow computer scientists to think about algorithmic and computational solutions to problems long discussed in the criminology literature. For each of the studied problems, we start with well-founded concepts and theories in criminology, then propose a computational method and finally provide a thorough experimental evaluation, along with a discussion of the results. In this way, the reader will be able to study the complete process of solving real-world multidisciplinary problems.

Organised Crime and Law Enforcement: A Network Perspective examines organised crime and law enforcement through the conceptual lens of networks. The book takes stock of the many ways in which network theories and concepts, including social network analysis, can apply to studying both organised crime and law enforcement responses to organised crime. It is the first attempt to bring these diverse network perspectives and distinct fields of research together. The book is organised into two parts. The first part uses network perspectives to advance our understanding of the interconnected social structure of organised criminal groups, to expose their strengths and vulnerabilities, and to illuminate factors that enable such groups to undertake complex criminal activities. The second part uses a network lens to examine the challenges that organised criminal groups present for a wide range of law enforcement agencies, and the utility of network theories and concepts in understanding and informing their responses to organised crime. Written in a clear and direct style, the book will appeal to scholars and practitioners of criminology, sociology, law enforcement, and all those interested in learning more about theories of organised crime and its relationship with law enforcement.

A comprehensive introduction to social network analysis that hones in on basic centrality measures, social links, subgroup analysis, data sources, and more Written by military, industry, and business professionals, this book introduces readers to social network analysis, the new and emerging topic that has recently become of significant use for industry, management, law enforcement, and military practitioners for identifying both vulnerabilities and opportunities in collaborative networked organizations. Focusing on models and methods for the analysis of organizational risk, Social Network Analysis with Applications provides easily accessible, yet comprehensive coverage of network basics, centrality measures, social link theory, subgroup analysis, relational algebra, data sources, and more. Examples of mathematical calculations and formulas for social network measures are also included. Along with practice problems and exercises, this easily accessible book covers: The basic concepts of networks, nodes, links, adjacency matrices, and graphs Mathematical calculations and exercises for centrality, the basic measures of degree, betweenness, closeness, and eigenvector centralities Graph-level measures, with a special focus on both the visual and numerical analysis of networks Matrix algebra, outlining basic concepts such as matrix addition, subtraction, multiplication, and transpose and inverse calculations in linear algebra that are useful for developing networks from relational data Meta-networks and relational algebra, social links, diffusion through networks, subgroup analysis, and more An excellent resource for practitioners in industry, management, law enforcement, and military intelligence who wish to learn and apply social network analysis to their respective fields, Social Network Analysis with Applications is also an ideal text for upper-level undergraduate and graduate level courses and workshops on the subject.

This sparkling Handbook offers an unrivalled resource for those engaged in the cutting edge field of social network analysis. Systematically, it introduces readers to the key concepts, substantive topics, central methods and prime debates. Among the specific areas covered are: Network theory Interdisciplinary applications Online networks Corporate networks Lobbying networks Deviant networks Measuring devices Key Methodologies Software applications. The result is a peerless resource for teachers and students which offers a critical survey of the origins, basic issues and major debates. The Handbook provides a one-stop guide that will be used by readers for decades to come.

David Knoke and Song Yang′s Social Network Analysis, Third Edition provides a concise introduction to the concepts and tools of social network analysis. The authors convey key material while at the same time minimizing technical complexities. The examples are simple: sets of 5 or 6 entities such as individuals, positions in a hierarchy, political offices, and nation-states, and the relations between them include friendship, communication, supervision, donations, and trade. The new edition reflects developments and changes in practice over the past decade. The authors also describe important recent developments in network analysis, especially in the fifth chapter. Exponential random graph models (ERGMs) are a prime example: when the second edition was published, P* models were the recommended approach for this, but they have been replaced by ERGMs. Finally, throughout the volume, the authors comment on the challenges and opportunities offered by internet and social media data.

Networks and Network Analysis for Defence and Security discusses relevant theoretical frameworks and applications of network analysis in support of the defence and security domains. This book details real world applications of network analysis to support defence and security. Shocks to regional, national and global systems stemming from natural hazards, acts of armed violence, terrorism and serious and organized crime have significant defence and security implications. Today, nations face an uncertain and complex security landscape in which threats impact/target the physical, social, economic and cyber domains. Threats to national security, such as that against critical infrastructures not only stem from man-made acts but also from natural hazards. Katrina (2005), Fukushima (2011) and Hurricane Sandy (2012) are examples highlighting the vulnerability of critical infrastructures to natural hazards and the crippling effect they have on the social and economic well-being of a community and a nation. With this dynamic and complex threat landscape, network analysis has emerged as a key enabler in supporting defence and security. With the advent of ‘big data’ and increasing processing power, network analysis can reveal insights with regards to structural and dynamic properties thereby facilitating greater understanding of complex networks, their entities, interdependencies, vulnerabilities to produce insights for creative solutions. This book will be well positioned to inform defence, security and intelligence professionals and researchers with regards to leading methodologies and approaches.

This collection presents an analysis of illicit networks and discusses implications for law enforcement and crime prevention. The contributors draw on a range of methodologies and apply them to diverse international criminological settings, from illegal fishing in the Indo-Pacific to ‘money mule’ networks in the Netherlands. Using a variety of examples, the book elucidates how and why criminals form networks of cooperation and how they can be disrupted. It is expected to be of interest to those who study criminology or criminal law, as well as law enforcement practitioners.

This new edition of The Sage Handbook of Social Network Analysis builds on the success of its predecessor, offering a comprehensive overview of social network analysis produced by leading international scholars in the field. Brand new chapters provide both significant updates to topics covered in the first edition, as well as discussing cutting edge topics that have developed since, including new chapters on: · General issues such as social categories and computational social science; · Applications in contexts such as environmental policy, gender, ethnicity, cognition and social media and digital networks; · Concepts and methods such as centrality, blockmodeling, multilevel network analysis, spatial analysis, data collection, and beyond. By providing authoritative accounts of the history, theories and methodology of various disciplines and topics, the second edition of The SAGE Handbook of Social Network Analysis is designed to provide a state-of-the-art presentation of classic and contemporary views, and to lay the foundations for the further development of the area. PART 1: GENERAL ISSUES PART 2: APPLICATIONS PART 3: CONCEPTS AND METHODS