Niall Hamilton-Smith is a senior lecturer in criminology at the University of Stirling and a member of the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research. Niall has a background in applied policing research, working as a researcher in the Home Office between 1999 and 2007, notably as a senior researcher in the Organised Crime Research section working on projects related to organised immigration crime. Since moving to Scotland, Niall has been involved in a variety of policing projects, including: collaborative work to develop the Scottish organised crime mapping process; a project to improve the measurement of police activities to tackle organised crime; research looking at public sector procurement and infiltration by organised crime; and a pilot project examining the availability and usefulness of community intelligence.