Effective policing in a VUCA environment: lessons from a dark network.

Abstract

In a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) environment, the dark networks are able to defy the much stronger police forces by successfully addressing these environmental risks, and instead creating these risks for police forces. Using the extended case study method, this study identifies effective counter-strategies by confronting an empirical case of CPI (Maoists), one of India’s oldest and most successful dark networks. This study also identifies the organizational changes that need to be adopted by the police forces if they have to defeat the dark networks. We highlight that a direct confrontation is not an efficient answer. Rather, the solution lies in attacking each of the strengths of CPI (Maoists) individually, in an orderly fashion. This case study also provides rich insights into the organizational design and peoples’ practices adopted by CPI (Maoists) that minimizes the impact of the VUCA environmental risks and adds to the literature on civil wars and criminal organizations.