Crime groups as criminal entrepreneurs - stealing heritage and cultural property

A case study

Bibliographic Data

ID4995355
AuthorsJ Kerr (0000-0002-9478-2511, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume30
Issue2
Pages138-154
Publication date2023-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Cultural Property (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0940-7391 • E-ISSN: 1465-7317
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0940739123000103
OpenAlexW4386965542
LanguageEN
References cited22

Crime groups are drawn to stealing heritage and cultural property because the thefts can be less dangerous than other illicit activities and there can be a lower chance of detection. In addition, there are financial opportunities such as selling the objects, using them as currency and collateral in illicit markets, and through rewards and ransoms. While these factors remain, crime groups operating as criminal entrepreneurs will continue to be attracted to this type of theft even if situational crime prevention strategies are implemented at locations. Unique and irreplaceable heritage and cultural property will be stolen, and societies will lose in artistic, cultural, heritage, historical, and financial terms. This article argues that, while people tasked with the policing and security of heritage and cultural property should focus on the potential thefts, policing agencies also need to focus on the crime groups, especially as heritage and cultural property thefts can be crime groups' "Achilles' heel

Business · Collateral · Crime prevention · Criminology · Cultural heritage · Cultural heritage management · Cultural property · Currency · Economics · Political science · Property (philosophy · Property crime · Situational ethics · Sociology · Terrorism · Violent crime · Archaeological Research and Protection · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance · Law · Wildlife Conservation and Criminology Analyses

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