Connecting the dots: Models of public-private cooperation in cultural property crime policing

This chapter discusses public-private engagement in the context of cultural property crime policing. Using the framework of nodal governance and anchored pluralism, it compares the cultural property crime policing networks in Belgium and Italy, in order to establish commonalities and divergences in these nations’ approach to private engagement in cultural property crime policing. The focus is on dedicated police units and their relationship with non-police entities. The chapter addresses a research gap, since the subject of cultural crime policing is relatively unexplored in the cultural property crime policing literature. It also attempts to provide actionable on-the-ground information for policymakers in the field. It thus has an explorative, a descriptive, a comparative, and a practical dimension.