Crime can be seen as an act of defiance against the rule of law, particularly if is committed with intent. This intension is often to make unlawful gains, whether by theft, corruption or taking part in illegal markets, which in Europe are most often cross-border in nature. This entails that criminal defiance is not just a national issue: theft or fraud can be committed locally, while handling the illicit proceeds may require a cross-border movement. Obviously not every state faces the same de...

Afghanistan is often viewed as a failing state. The international intervention, following 9/11, could fit with the country’s domestic modernisation efforts, King Ammanullah’s in the 1920s and Zahir Shah’s in the 1960s. Yet, such developments had been stalled time and again, first due to conservative resistance, then the 1979 Soviet occupation, and the subsequent rise of Mujahidin and Taliban. The post-2001 overhaul remained an outsider’s enterprise and lacked proper connection to Afgh...

Over the past ten to fifteen years the police in many Western European countries have undergone a series of profound organisational changes. The police now appear to operate at a greater distance from citizens, they are more impersonal and decontextualized and have become more dependent on digitalised data systems.

These changes are captured through the concept of the ‘abstract police’ and in this international collection of essays, leading policing scholars use this concept to make sens...

The social, economic and technological developments of the late modern society have radically changed policing approaches both at national and supranational levels. With the anti-terrorism discourse and the global crises of mobilities, the security needs of citizens is now at the pinnacle of government priorities. At the same time, traditional law enforcement faces an epistemological crisis through the digitalisation and privatization of security. Governments, and especially the police, are e...

Cybercrime has become part of everyday life. We live in hybrid societies, fluctuating between the material and the virtual world, and we are hence confronted with online, offline and hybrid offences. However, the few victimisation surveys conducted in Europe reveal that victims of online crimes seldom report them to the police. Consequently, cybercrimes – which according to the best estimates represent between one third and more than half of all attempted and completed crimes in Europe – ...

This Book of Basics shows how High Impact Crime (HIC) in The Netherlands can be tackled at a local level by the police, the municipality and the Public Prosecution Service in collaboration with citizens and businesses/organisations. The target audience for the Book of Basics is the essential coalition of the local triangle - the mayor, police management and Public Prosecutor, as well as their policy makers and executors, businesses, citizens and organisations from civil society. The Book of B...

Outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMCGs) have been increasingly viewed as a threat to society. Members have been associated with disturbances of public order as well as various forms of organized crime. In response, the authorities in the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium have each implemented their own zero-tolerance strategies to prevent and repress outlaw biker crime and deviance. In the cross-border Meuse Rhine Euregion, where the three countries intersect, the national borders may provide opportu...

Fighting Poverty and Violence analyzes what is needed to abolish the worst forms of human deprivation. Based on many international studies about the UN Sustainable Development Goals, it concludes that only two percent of world income is needed to provide all human beings with safe drinking water, sanitation, food, basic education, and simple health care. The poorest people also incur the largest numbers of victims due to wars, disasters, and pandemics. This book contains practical suggestions...

This book addresses the relationship between restorative justice and children’s rights, an issue of increasing relevance to restorative justice theory and practice that has thus far received relatively little attention. Readers will find useful reviews of international human rights documents and of legislation, policy and practices in countries in Europe, Africa, Asia, South America, North America, and Oceania. Each of the chapters demonstrates the compatibility between children’s rights ...