InSight Crime is a non-profit

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

and media organization specializing in

organized crime Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

and the Caribbean. The organization has offices in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and Medellín, Colombia. InSight Crime receives funding from the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

, the

Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (, ) is a government agency of the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Sida is responsible for organization of the bulk of Sweden's official development assistance to developing coun ...

and the

Open Society Foundations Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is an American grantmaking network founded by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with the s ...

. It has also worked with the Center for Latin American and Latino Studies at

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

and with the Colombian think tank ''Fundación Ideas para la Paz''.

History

InSight Crime was founded by Jeremy McDermott and Steven Dudley (a journalist who formerly reported for '' NPR'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' and the ''

Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by McClatchy, The McClatchy Company and headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Founded in 1903, it is the fifth-largest newspaper in Florida, serving Miami-Dade, Broward County, Fl ...

'') in April 2010 under the endorsement of the Fundación Ideas para la Paz (FIP) in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

, Colombia, and with the financial support of the

. By August 2010, the Center for Latin American and Latino Studies at the

became a sponsor. According to the organization, it was founded in order to create an online platform that "connects the pieces, the players and organizations" involved in

n crime and "the effectiveness of the initiatives designed to stop them."

Website

InSight Crime launched its website in December 2010 with news on organized crime and profiles of drug trafficking organizations and criminal personalities in Colombia and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. The website intends to create an "information resource and networking tool designed for students, academics, analysts, researchers, policymakers, journalists, non-governmental workers, government officials and businesses to obtain the information and contacts they need to tackle the problems that organized crime increasingly presents in Latin America and the Caribbean."

Consultancy

Apart from publishing information on its website, InSight Crime also conducts investigations across Latin America for private and government organizations.

External funding

Insight Crime is funded by a mixture of government grants and corporate philanthropy. Between 2022 and 2023, Insignt Crime received US$530,900 in grants from the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs of the United States Department of State. For the period December 2023 through to June 2027, the Swedish government development agency (Sida) will fund Insight Crime US$890,410. , Insight Crime indicated that the Open Society Foundation was a "major funder".

References

{{Latin America topic, Illegal drug trade in, state=collapsed Investigative journalism Organizations established in 2010 2010 establishments in Washington, D.C. Non-profit organizations based in Washington, D.C.

History

Website

Consultancy

External funding

See also

References