Crime scripting: A systematic review

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version.More than two decades after the publication of Cornish’s seminal work about the script-theoretic approach to crime analysis, this article examines how the concept has been applied in our community. The study provides evidence confirming that the approach is increasingly popular; and takes stock of crime scripting practices through a systematic review of over one hundred scripts published between 1994 and 2018. The results offer the first comprehensive picture of this approach, and highlights new directions for those interested in using data from cyber-systems and the Internet of Things to develop effective situational crime prevention measures

Goal-driven Elaboration of Crime Scripts

This research investigates a crime modelling technique known as crime scripting. Crime scripts are generated by crime analysts to improve the understanding of security incidents, and in particularly, the criminal modus operandi (i.e., how crimes occur) to help identify cost-effective crime prevention measures. This thesis makes four contributions in this area. First, a systematic review of the crime scripting literature that provides a comprehensive and up-to-date understanding of crime scripting practice, and identifies potential issues with current crime scripting methods. Second, a comparative analysis of crime scripts which reveals differences and similarities between the scripts generated by different analysts, and confirms the limitations of intuitive approaches to crime scripting. Third, an experimental study, which shows that the content of crime scripts is influenced by what scripters know about the future use of their scripts. And fourth, a novel crime scripting framework inspired from business process modelling and goal-based modelling techniques. This framework aims to help researchers and practitioners better understand the activities involved in the development of crime scripts, and guide them in the creation of scripts and facilitate the identification of suitable crime prevention measures

Navigating the challenges to digital transformation : the case of a pan African Commercial Bank

The financial service industry has enjoyed decades of outstanding success, with many banks consolidating their dominant positions built over time to become market leaders. However, many face stiff competition from new, nimble asset-light entrants aggressively competing for market share. Mounting pressures result from obsolete strategies and deficient business models that once worked very well. Change management, optimal organisation strategy, and leadership challenges are all impacting the ability of financial service firms to pivot operations to become more agile effectively. On other fronts, the regulatory environment is heating up, with increased compliance requirements. There is also a constellation of internal pressures necessitating the need to radically innovate and stand out by leveraging innovative technology to serve customers better. Owing to these pressures, most banks have embarked on a Digital Transformation (DT) journey to redefine how they do business. Most of them plan to leverage the promises of DT to compete better and to help them achieve operating efficiency and reduced business costs whilst ultimately increasing market share and dominance. The unspoken reality is that the DT journey includes significant hurdles and uphill challenges, such as re-engineering business models and leveraging a robust digital technology infrastructure whilst addressing enterprise change issues. However, most banks need help with the transition process to become truly transformed, while others still need to catch up in the journey despite spending vast sums of shareholder funds. This study aims to develop a new set of tools and a set of interventions that will aid in understanding and assessing the pain points and barriers to a successful transition with practical steps on how best to truly digitally transform. To fully understand the challenges, this research reviews the various elemental forces that make up the transformation process. It also examines how these challenges impact the organisation, including its leadership, emphasising the collective technological components that drive successful transformation. The study, conducted through a case study approach, also examined the challenges faced by one of the most respected African banks (Guarantee Trust Bank, now formally known as GTCO) and its reactions to the quest to attain digital maturity. The research aims to answer the challenges through an intervention framework on how best to navigate the impediments to a successful transformation

From Data to Disruption

AbstractOrganized crime groups and law enforcement agencies are caught in complex system similar to a continuous game of cat-and-mouse, in which the latter frequently remains two or more steps behind. Law enforcement agencies are therefore seeking for more proactive strategies in targeting these criminal network structures more effectively. This starts with a better understanding of the way they operate and adapt over time. A key element to developing this understanding remained largely unexploited: big data and big data analytics. This provides novel insight into how criminal cooperations on a micro- and meso level are embedded in small-world criminal macro-networks and how this fosters its resillience against disruption. This paper discusses the opportunities and the limitations of this data-driven approach and its implications for both law enforcement practice and scientific research