Both terrorism and organised crime involve strongly – sometimes fanatically – motivated offenders, often working in groups and networks. Among both kinds of offender (whether individual or group-based) are those who constitute persistent adaptive threats. They may adapt to fresh opportunities engendered by social/technological changes; and circumvent existing security measures. As such, they are major drivers of crime-security arms races.
A common strategy applied to both terrorism and organised crime is that of disruption. An attempt is made to develop the concept, to better guide practice and research.
The Crime Role Grid offers a way of developing a system-level view of the various players involved in crime groups, networks and transactions.