Controlling crime through networks

This chapter will probe key theoretical and empirical developments and account for how various state and non-state actors shape flows across networks. It begins by outlining a theoretical foundation for this work, detailing the evolution of crime control as it has unravelled in recent years, the pluralisation of policing arrangements and the emergence of networked approaches within the criminological literature. After establishing these important theoretical strands, this chapter then draws on findings from several recent empirical studies of security networks to explain and reconcile emergent structural forces that serve to shape network flows and influence security outcomes. It is argued here that a better understanding and appreciation of these forces, and the various contexts for which they operate, is necessary as policing networks continue to diversify. This chapter concludes by tying these findings in to broader debates occurring within criminology about the governance of security and the need to establish regulatory approaches to account for these developments