Dr Rob Hornsby was invited to speak at the National Crime Agency’s The Future of the NCA: Tackling Illicit Trades event, hosted by the Royal United Services Institute. 

The international workshop focused on the future of drug trafficking, human trafficking, arms trafficking and the illegal wildlife trade in the UK.

It brought together a select group of researchers and practitioners to provide an independent analysis of key emerging organised crime challenges which will inform the National Crime Agency’s new strategy to be published later this year. 

Dr Hornsby, whose research areas include organised crime, drugs and other illicit markets, presented his predictions for how criminals will evolve over the next ten years and how the NCA will need to adapt in order to keep up. 

He said: “For the National Crime Agency (NCA) it is evident that the threat and seriousness of organised crime is increasing in scale and complexity.  Alongside the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), the NCA used the conference to share expert knowledge and advice from law enforcement personnel and academic researchers.  In turn, this will help them to identify potential developments within organised crime and inform the strategy for tackling potential threats over the next ten years.

Professor Philip Hodgson, Dean of the Faculty of Social and Health Sciences, said: “This is yet another example of Leeds Trinity University’s academics being invited to contribute to the debate to shape national policy discussion and in this case builds upon Dr Hornsby’s considerable expertise in this area.”

The National Crime Agency is at the forefront of UK law enforcement, building the intelligence picture of serious and organised crime threats, pursuing the most serious and dangerous offenders, and developing and delivering specialist capabilities on behalf of law enforcement and other partners.

The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) is the world’s oldest and the UK’s leading defence and security think tank.

Leeds Trinity University offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate criminology courses. Read more on the website.