In this episode of the Reducing Crime podcast, host Jerry Ratcliffe interviews Martin Bouchard, a professor of criminology at Simon Fraser University, about social network analysis and its application to understanding gangs and organized crime groups. Bouchard explains the concepts of social network analysis, including dyads and brokers, and discusses how police can use this understanding to strategically target and disrupt criminal activity. He also highlights the similarities between gang networks and police corruption networks. Bouchard emphasizes the importance of combining social network analysis with contextual knowledge and intelligence to gain a comprehensive understanding of criminal networks. The episode concludes with a discussion on the role of social and human capital in criminal organizations and the potential for disruption and informant recruitment.
