Teun van Ruitenburg

Dr. Teun van Ruitenburg is a Senior Researcher at the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR) and a Lecturer in Undermining at the Centre of Expertise Safety & Resilience at Avans University of Applied Sciences. He works three days per week at Avans and two days at NSCR, focusing on evidence-based policing and crime prevention strategies.

His educational background includes:

• PhD in Criminology from Erasmus School of Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam (2020)
• Master in Criminology from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (2013)

Van Ruitenburg's research focuses on innovative approaches to tackling organized crime, particularly outlaw motorcycle gangs and undermining crime. His work bridges academic research with practical law enforcement applications, emphasizing evidence-based strategies. He has developed expertise in financial crime scripting, which analyzes the financial dimensions of criminal operations to disrupt profit-driven crime. His research also explores crime harm indexing to prioritize law enforcement resources based on crime severity rather than just frequency.

His publications reveal a consistent focus on practical crime prevention methods, with particular attention to administrative approaches to organized crime, financial dimensions of criminal enterprises, and the application of crime scripting methodologies across different crime types. The research shows a progression from studying outlaw motorcycle gangs to broader applications of crime scripting in cybercrime, drug trafficking, and financial crime.

His notable scientific achievement includes receiving a major NWO grant (approximately €2.5 million) for the SCRIPT project (Scripting Criminal Processes: Review and Implementation of Practical Tools), which aims to implement, accelerate, and scale up crime scripting methods in the security domain.

Van Ruitenburg actively collaborates with key stakeholders in the Dutch security domain, including Police Netherlands, FIU-Netherlands, Rabobank, Deloitte, and the Public Prosecution Service. His work demonstrates a commitment to translating academic research into practical crime prevention tools that can be implemented by law enforcement and security organizations.