Intelligence-Led Policing in Honduras: Applying Sleipnir and Social Psychology to Understand Gang Proliferation

This paper reports on the application of structured thinking techniques to the development of intelligence-led anti-gang strategies in the Honduran National Police. A variant of the Sleipnir assessment, an organized crime groups’ capability measurement matrix developed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, was employed using a Q Sort methodology. The assessment was administered to 37 Honduran police command staff in January 2012. The assessment required police officers to rank 12 gang attributes based on each factor’s relative contribution to gang proliferation. Theories of group behavior were then consulted, and the police commanders reflected on why the attributes were so influential in ensuring gang proliferation using these concepts as a theoretical framework. This paper discusses data that were collected during the assessment. The applicability of Sleipnir, social psychology and the prospects for implementing ILP within the Honduran context are discussed.