Separate worlds in public and private crime prevention

Private parties, such as private investigators, have an important role in combating internal financial and economic crime within organisations. There is only limited public-private cooperation in this respect. This is the conclusion of research by criminologists Clarissa Meerts, Wim Huisman and Edward Kleemans of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, commissioned by the Police and Science Research Programme. Operational ad-hoc contact between the police and private investigators, for example, is more common than long-term and structural cooperation. This is a special form of 'living apart together' of public and private actors: these are often separate worlds and public-private contact often remains at the level of information transfer. If there is cooperation, there is no question of an equal partnership and the criminal justice system largely determines the role relationships. In practice, the (non) use of the legally regulated options for information exchange leads to frustration among both private investigators and the police and prosecution office.