Strategic Hub for Organised Crime Research (SHOC)
SHOC is a world-class research network that brings together academics, practitioners, policymakers and the private sector to facilitate policy-relevant research and dialogue on organised crime.
The Strategic Hub for Organised Crime Research (SHOC) was launched in December 2016 by Dame Lynne Owens, Director-General of the UK National Crime Agency. It has since become a core UK platform for cross-sectoral dialogue and policy debate on organised crime. As part of this, SHOC provides a critical high-level ‘knowledge broker’ service used by government, civil society, the private sector and academia.
The central aim of SHOC is to bring together academics, practitioners and policymakers to create a collaborative network of experts, working to improve understanding of and responses to serious and organised crime. Academic analysis can improve approaches to organised crime and provide a deeper understanding of the phenomenon, while policymakers and practitioners are essential in identifying priority areas for analysis. SHOC aims to ensure that academic investigations have significant real-world impact and ultimately enhance responses to transnational organised crime.
Project sponsors
SHOC was originally funded for three years by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
Building on its success, RUSI's Organised Crime and Policing team is working to establish SHOC 2.0 for a proposed 3-year programme.
Aims and objectives
SHOC is managed by RUSI, with support from a wide membership of academics, policymakers and practitioners. Its goal is to act as a focal point for research and dialogue that meets the needs of policymakers and practitioners. To achieve this, SHOC brings together individuals from multiple sectors to create a network of experts working together to improve responses to organised crime. This is much needed: academics and policymakers have increased their focus on organised crime in recent years, but have generally proceeded on different tracks.
SHOC promotes the value of dialogue across these sectors through a number of mechanisms. These include the organisation of regular multi-sectoral workshops; an active web platform to facilitate knowledge sharing; and the pursuit of active partnerships across communities.
Across these areas, SHOC has five core objectives:
Prioritisation: SHOC works with policymakers and practitioners to identify critical knowledge gaps.
Policy-focused: Based on the priorities identified, SHOC facilitates policy-focused research.
Collaboration: SHOC works to improve communication and collaboration between researchers, policymakers and practitioners.
Network: SHOC develops and maintains a network of researchers and practitioners working on organised crime.
Awareness: SHOC promotes public understanding of organised crime through seminars, workshops and conferences.
