Indicators of (organized) crime and subversion on business parks

Money laundering, hemp cultivation, transit of illegal goods: many business parks are subject to hidden crime. Certainly rundown business parks often provide a fertile breeding ground for criminal activities. There is a continuum with the normal upper world on the one hand and the hard criminal underworld on the other. There are all kinds of forms in between; varying from consciously looking the other way, getting a piece of the pie, to providing criminals with a helping hand.

Commissioned by the Research and Documentation Centre (WODC) of the Ministry of Justice and Security, Tilburg University, CentERdata, and Avans University of Applied Sciences have carried out research into indicators of (organized) crime and subversion on business parks. Using various data sources such as IBIS (Integrated Business Area Information System) and the number of reports to the police and to Crime Anonymously, 15 indicators were identified.

Findings

The research shows that (a combination of) factors related to the physical environment are important. These include issues such as obsolescence and vacancy rates, the value of the property, the degree of supervision, the number of reports to the police and the turnover on a business park. The type of business also seems to play a role, for example the legal form and size. The presence of many extra branches, such as extra Chamber of Commerce registrations, holding private limited companies, and warehouses also emerged as a risk indicator.

The results of the research can be read in the WODC Report (in Dutch).