Drugs, heavy firearms, liquidations and billions of euros of criminal money. The threat of these types of subversive crime is present in our world. While the Netherlands are already heavily involved in combatting criminality, the fight needs to be tackled better and smarter. This will require more knowledge.

Trends and patterns in criminality

The Strategic Knowledge Center looks for trends and patterns on how organized crime operates in our country and over the border. This information is then turned into threat analyses. The SKC, which is based in Vlissingen, will continue to grow into a broad knowledge center in the field of subversion with 25 high-quality jobs. The center is a part of the so called Law Delta, which also include a high security court and extra secure prison. The project is part of the compensation package ‘Wind in de Zeilen’.

The SKC will be providing threat analyses to investigate the subversion, where criminals try to use our society and legal economic structures to further their illegal activities. “We want to know where subversion happens, how criminals make use of our society but also what drives young people to make certain choices and become a ‘criminal’” says director Tom Driessen from the SKC.

Criminal forecast

“If we know more about these things and can tackle them together and in a more structural way, you as a government also become more effective and agile. With this Knowledge Center we ensure an objective and strategic information position about subversion. Call it a criminal forecast on a strategic level”, Driessen indicates.

The SKC collaborates with many parties, such as Police, Public Prosecution Service, the Fiscal Information and Investigation Service, Customs, Tax and Customs Administration and the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, but also educational institutions and municipalities. They bring their expertise and information together to see how organized crime is developing and how to best deal with it. This is why a cooperation is also started with UCR.

Research into broad data

The collaboration between UCR and SKC will be in the fields of Research and Education. UCR offers students a broad university bachelor, where the curriculum is composed of different disciplines. Professors and students from Data Science, Research Methodology & Statistics, Sociology and Psychology are looking forward to working with the SKC. In the future, students also hope to complete their bachelor theses within this context.

“Here at UCR, we are always looking for fruitful collaboration with societal partners. The data-intensive research from the SKC will be a challenging environment for our students and researchers. The SKC is a big asset to the region and we are very pleased about this cooperation”, according to Dean Bert van den Brink.