Analyzing Crime Networks: A Complex Network-Based Approach

Abstract

This article analyzed the crime network of Nineveh province based on the concepts of Complex Networks. To this end, two networks were created; the first represented the crimes that were committed in Nineveh province, while the second was the network of crime regions. These two networks were visualized and then analyzed using network centrality measurements. The results showed that several pairs of crimes had strong relations to each other. Moreover, it was found that some crime regions were considered as the core of crimes in the province. The results also showed that few regions were considered as the most dangerous parts of the province and they had strong tendencies to replicate their behaviour to other regions. Finally, the authors believe this is the first kind of works that take the crime network of Nineveh province as a case study

Keywords

• crime networks
• complex networks
• nineveh province