‘It’s about using the full sanction catalogue’: on boundary negotiations in a multi-agency organised crime investigation

Abstract

Inter-organisational and inter-disciplinary investigations are increasingly deployed against criminal networks and cross-jurisdictional crimes. This study provides a unique empirical window into an inter-organisational investigation against a large organized crime network in Norway. Building on interview data from the participants in the multiagency investigation team that was summoned for this case, the article discusses coordination issues that arise when organisations with different goals and interests collaborate to reach a common goal. The article studies co-ordination from inside of the investigation team and discusses the interchangeable use of criminal and administrative law. While bridging organisational boundaries enable agencies to pool powers, coordination across organisations may challenge the protection of sometimes conflicting aims and interests.Keywords: organisational boundaries, inter-organisational co-ordination, security networks, policing 2 IntroductionOslo area, September 2014: After a period of comprehensive communication surveillance and covert investigation, 280 officers from the police, the Tax Administration (henceforth 'TA'), and the Labour and Welfare Administration ('Labour & Welfare') carried out a raid on 20 shops in the 'Lime' grocery chain. The grocery chain was established and operated by an organised criminal network that was previously known to the police. The shops were profitable to the network who allegedly utilised human trafficking for forced labour, illicit work, money laundering, benefit fraud, tax evasion, violations of immigration law, employment offences, identity theft, and credit card fraud i . The raid marked the beginning of a prolonged multi-agency investigation, covering a variety of criminal and administrative violations. The investigation was structured as a multi-agency project, which meant that investigators from all participating agencies (police, TA, Labour & Welfare) were removed from their daily tasks, co-localised in a shared, rented office space, and co-ordinated by the Lime project's chief investigator.Pluralisation characterises contemporary policing, and partnerships as well as networked security governance between state and non-state actors have been examined empirically (Gundhus et al., 2008, Nøkleberg, 2016, Søgaard et al., 2016. This study explores the co-ordination of state powers in the multi-agency Lime project. While the literature on the pluralisation of policing and nodal governance of security (Johnston andWood, 2003) emphasises the role of non-state agents in the provision of security, this study delves into the heterogeneity of powers and interests in state sector governmental nodes. Partnership working and information sharing among public agencies intensifies 'the state gaze' […] in a way which is valued for its ability to make the daily work of the various state agents easier. '(O'Neill and Loftus, 2013, p. 451). This study contributes to the existing literature in two ways: Empirically, through studying the internal 3 operations of...

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“…This process helped ‘stave off’ deductive theoretical themes during the initial coding cycle. This was useful because I had analysed 22 of the included interviews previously, using a theoretically deductive thematic analysis (Bjelland and Vestby, 2017).…”

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