| Abstract: | Conclusions Recent criminological research in the Netherlands underscores the fact that organized crime is embedded in society and the
overall picture makes it clear that police emphasis on a crime fighting model of the police, based solely on criminal law
will not be entirely effective. Therefore, the Twente police force developed a new strategy of policing organized crime in
their region. This strategy is based on criminological knowledge and on the approach of community policing: preventive, pro-active
and integrated actions taken by various partners of the police in order to reduce illegal activities of organized crime groups.
This strategy, however, can only succeed when two conditions are satisfied. First, this approach can only function in an open
democratic society in which numerous public and private organizations and the public feel responsible for the emergence of
organized crime in their environment. Secondly, the police force and their partners must be (relatively) free of corruption.
This implies that this strategy can only be effective in societies in which organized crime has not deeply penetrated democratic
institutions and business organizations.
Respectively Commissioner of Police and head of the Division Organized Crime of the Twente Police force and Professor of criminology
and director of the International Police Institute (IPIT) at the University of Twente. PO Box 217, 7500 EA Enschede, The Netherlands.
We would like to thank Alexis Aronowitz of the IPIT for her comments on an earlier draft of this paper and for her grammatical
corrections, as well as the members of the editorial committee for their suggestions for improvements. |
