Organised property crime: winning the arms race

The goal of crime prevention should be high on the agenda when designing a product. Crime prevention actors and law enforcement must maximise their cooperation with the private sector
as it is the driver for technological innovation.

The goal of this paper is to shed light on several aspects of the arms race in relation to organised property crime (OPC), the prevention thereof and the challenges it will face in the future. In order to achieve this objective,
we take a closer look at the key challenges posed by organised property crime and modern organised crime groups. As no crime happens in a vacuum, we need to look at the current context, an era marked by the fourth industrial revolution that impacts targets, opportunities and working methods of organised crime groups (OCGs). We highlight the importance of the design and development phase of products, such as mobile phones, safes and buildings and finish with recommendations on how to win the arms race by anticipating future threats and by setting a proactive course.

EUCPN Secretariat, March 2020, Brussels

Table of contents

Preface
1. Challenges of organised property crime
2. Arms race in the digital era
Continuously changing world
Organised property crime in a digital era
Design and development
Arms race
Design contradictions and iatrogenic effects
3. Winning the arms race
Anticipate future threats
Set a proactive course
Conclusions