Corporate criminology seeks to develop theoretical models that explain why and how people commit crime, how to analyze and assess risk, and how to manage the security of a company.
Likewise, it offers the tools to design, conduct and critically evaluate research within a security context, whether in the public or private sector. Given the conditions of citizen insecurity present in Mexico, executives and managers must hire security escorts, which is why it is important that there is an adequate selection of elements and situational diagnoses are carried out based on the foundations of corporate criminology.
Most organizations recognize the critical role of security in achieving their business goals. The patrimonial losses generated by the theft, the leakage of information, the deterioration of material resources and the environment of job insecurity, create a hostile environment.
Due to the frequency and modality with which criminal conduct is committed that affects the company, organizations must anticipate new threats before their business is affected. That is why the management of security in personnel, infrastructure and values is a fundamental concern of any work center.
In recent years, given the conditions of citizen insecurity present in Mexico, it is common to see executives and managers accompanied by a security escort. For all those who have limited contact with corporate security, this may seem over the top or almost straight out of a movie, however, this is primarily intended to avoid or reduce actual or potential risks.
The risk factors for an executive can be derived from intentional human actions (Stroberger, 2000) as in the case of kidnapping and extortion attempts, however there are other circumstances that can be predicted through a situational diagnosis such as natural disasters, accidents or medical emergencies.
The corporate criminologist
For each type of risk or specific danger, the corporate criminologist analyzes the most appropriate strategies to mitigate the risk.
In some cases, it is possible to plan strategies well in advance, as for example in the case of providing executive protection to a subject known to suffer from a certain disease, a geographic profile of the area to be visited can be drawn up by preparing an intervention guide. If necessary, include the location of the closest hospitals, access routes, exits, vehicle locations, etc.
In other cases, such as when there is a risk of kidnapping, the corporate criminologist may take measures that anticipate security needs. Adequate planning of these measures, response times and timely intervention, will not only limit conflicts, but will provide an environment of tranquility to the executive because through the situational diagnosis information such as: access points, insecurity zones and exhibition, trusted and safe areas, rooms to be used, restaurants, offices, security personnel, surveillance cameras, coverage areas, vehicles, etc.
This is a very short list, and obviously does not include all aspects of preventive interest. But the concept that it is trying to arrive at is to respond to: What are we going to do? How do we get to that place and how can we go back? What are the alternatives? What is the place or time of greatest exposure and vulnerability? From this point of view, most questions can be anticipated before the arrival of the agent.
The corporate criminologist must first know the geographical area where he will provide security, in most cases he makes probing visits to have a better understanding of the space, as is well known, a large percentage of executives carry out their activities outside their centers protection includes knowing details such as crime rate, types of crime and areas of highest crime activity, so that the criminologist is prepared to give a brief explanation of current trends, and the importance of safety.
It is frequent that those in charge of security strategies and patrimonial protection in companies have little or no relationship with the criminological investigation, so when a criminal event happens, external consultants must be hired, who are unaware of the internal functioning of the corporation, the values, their mission and vision and they are not familiar with the operations that are carried out in the organization which can generate a superficial or little compromised investigation, it should be noted that a criminal act is not only a patrimonial damage but also of the organizational structure of the company, which will bring economic, moral, psychological and social consequences in the workers.
Traditional criminology has focused its studies on the criminal behavior of the offender. With the advancement of this science, social research has included the study of physical spaces as facilitators of crime, opportunity, routine activities and police policies aimed at solving problems, to mention some of its most recent advances.
Corporate criminology is an interaction of the theories of general criminology, theories of organizational psychology and industrial security that allows developing a detailed knowledge of the aspects of crime, risk and security management in organizations.
Corporate criminology seeks to develop theoretical models that explain why and how people commit crime, how to analyze and assess risk, and how to manage the security of a company. Likewise, it offers the tools to design, conduct and critically evaluate research within a security context, whether in the public or private sector.
