Social Network Analysis and Law Enforcement


Book Description

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.




Social Network Analysis in Predictive Policing


Book Description

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


Book Description

1. This book is multi-disciplinary and will be of interests to criminologists, legal scholars, and those engaged with security, intelligence, and terrorism studies. 2. This is the first book to offer a network perspective on organised crime and law enforcement.




Networks and Network Analysis for Defence and Security


Book Description

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.




Crime and Networks


Book Description

This innovative collection of original essays showcases the use of social networks in the analysis and understanding of various forms of crime. More than any other past research endeavor, the seventeen chapters in this book apply to criminology the many conceptual and methodological options from social network analysis. Crime and Networks is the only book of its kind that looks at the use of networks in understanding crime, and can be used for advanced undergraduate and beginner’s graduate level courses in criminal justice and criminology.




Social Network Analysis for Startups


Book Description

Does your startup rely on social network analysis? This concise guide provides a statistical framework to help you identify social processes hidden among the tons of data now available. Social network analysis (SNA) is a discipline that predates Facebook and Twitter by 30 years. Through expert SNA researchers, you'll learn concepts and techniques for recognizing patterns in social media, political groups, companies, cultural trends, and interpersonal networks. You'll also learn how to use Python and other open source tools—such as NetworkX, NumPy, and Matplotlib—to gather, analyze, and visualize social data. This book is the perfect marriage between social network theory and practice, and a valuable source of insight and ideas. Discover how internal social networks affect a company’s ability to perform Follow terrorists and revolutionaries through the 1998 Khobar Towers bombing, the 9/11 attacks, and the Egyptian uprising Learn how a single special-interest group can control the outcome of a national election Examine relationships between companies through investment networks and shared boards of directors Delve into the anatomy of cultural fads and trends—offline phenomena often mediated by Twitter and Facebook




The Oxford Handbook of Social Networks


Book Description

While some social scientists may argue that we have always been networked, the increased visibility of networks today across economic, political, and social domains can hardly be disputed. Social networks fundamentally shape our lives and social network analysis has become a vibrant, interdisciplinary field of research. In The Oxford Handbook of Social Networks, Ryan Light and James Moody have gathered forty leading scholars in sociology, archaeology, economics, statistics, and information science, among others, to provide an overview of the theory, methods, and contributions in the field of social networks. Each of the thirty-three chapters in this Handbook moves through the basics of social network analysis aimed at those seeking an introduction to advanced and novel approaches to modeling social networks statistically. They cover both a succinct background to, and future directions for, distinctive approaches to analyzing social networks. The first section of the volume consists of theoretical and methodological approaches to social networks, such as visualization and network analysis, statistical approaches to networks, and network dynamics. Chapters in the second section outline how network perspectives have contributed substantively across numerous fields, including public health, political analysis, and organizational studies. Despite the rapid spread of interest in social network analysis, few volumes capture the state-of-the-art theory, methods, and substantive contributions featured in this volume. This Handbook therefore offers a valuable resource for graduate students and faculty new to networks looking to learn new approaches, scholars interested in an overview of the field, and network analysts looking to expand their skills or substantive areas of research.




The Rise of Big Data Policing


Book Description

Winner, 2018 Law & Legal Studies PROSE Award The consequences of big data and algorithm-driven policing and its impact on law enforcement In a high-tech command center in downtown Los Angeles, a digital map lights up with 911 calls, television monitors track breaking news stories, surveillance cameras sweep the streets, and rows of networked computers link analysts and police officers to a wealth of law enforcement intelligence. This is just a glimpse into a future where software predicts future crimes, algorithms generate virtual “most-wanted” lists, and databanks collect personal and biometric information. The Rise of Big Data Policing introduces the cutting-edge technology that is changing how the police do their jobs and shows why it is more important than ever that citizens understand the far-reaching consequences of big data surveillance as a law enforcement tool. Andrew Guthrie Ferguson reveals how these new technologies —viewed as race-neutral and objective—have been eagerly adopted by police departments hoping to distance themselves from claims of racial bias and unconstitutional practices. After a series of high-profile police shootings and federal investigations into systemic police misconduct, and in an era of law enforcement budget cutbacks, data-driven policing has been billed as a way to “turn the page” on racial bias. But behind the data are real people, and difficult questions remain about racial discrimination and the potential to distort constitutional protections. In this first book on big data policing, Ferguson offers an examination of how new technologies will alter the who, where, when and how we police. These new technologies also offer data-driven methods to improve police accountability and to remedy the underlying socio-economic risk factors that encourage crime. The Rise of Big Data Policing is a must read for anyone concerned with how technology will revolutionize law enforcement and its potential threat to the security, privacy, and constitutional rights of citizens. Read an excerpt and interview with Andrew Guthrie Ferguson in The Economist.




Social Network Analysis


Book Description

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.




Social Network Analysis with Applications


Book Description

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.