Organised Crime and Counter Terrorism
Despite real concern over the increasing threat from organised crime, there is very little rigorous analysis of its nature, scale and impact and enduring problems accessing accurate and useful information on organised criminal networks and their activities. With rapid changes in technology, cross-border mobility and global communication systems, the shift to more complex and sophisticated criminal activity networked across regional and national borders will continue to grow. The Foundation believes there is a real need to develop new approaches to tackling organised crime and provide opportunities for interested parties to talk to each other in a secure but open environment. To this end, we aim to set up and run a series of by-invitation-only seminars to stimulate debate and seek new solutions.
The London bombings in July 2005 have changed society and how it is policed. The Government has necessarily focused its efforts on passing new legislation to improve the security of the nation, but the longer term task of illuminating the causes of terrorism committed by British nationals and the role of effective community engagement in this also needs to be urgently addressed. Establishing and maintaining the right balance between security and liberty is crucial to the health of a democratic society and an independent assessment of the impact of the new anti-terrorism legislation also needs to be undertaken.
We are currently undertaking exploratory research into the prevention of terrorism with a view to identifying what is known and what is not known about contemporary terrorism, and to develop an agenda for future research. Fundamental to the prevention of some ‘new’ forms of terrorism is the construction and maintenance of police legitimacy through increasing the levels of trust between the police and British Muslim communities. The project will consider how to improve the exchange of information and intelligence between communities, local police and security services. It will focus primarily on how the police could improve levels of trust and legitimacy in communities that may be characterised by high levels of tension and alienation, particularly with regard to relationships between the police and young British Muslim men. Dr Darren Thiel has been carrying out the research.
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