UK Ministry of Justice data and documents and police records are used to examine the crimes committed by SHAC (Stop Huntington Animal Cruelty) activists against Huntington Life Sciences, a company using animals for research. The police response and its effects on the animal rights campaign are also considered. The study is distinctive in that it explores activists’ modi operandi using case studies and the use of covert investigative techniques in policing offences against victims of animal rights activists. The effects of SHAC’s leadership ‘decapitation’ are measured, not only with offence numbers, but also by using sentence length to measure harm. The intelligence-led investigation proved effective in providing evidence of an organized campaign of intimidation that had very serious effects on families, employees and commercial profitability. Leadership removal resulted in a marked offending drop, offset somewhat by increased seriousness, so that overall harm fell, but less than expected from offence numbers. This counters the view that leadership removal in organizations motivated by ideological principles is pointless or counterproductive.
BurnsJM (1978) Leadership. New York: Harper & Row.
6.
BymanD (2006) Do targeted killings work?Foreign Affairs85(2): 95–111.
7.
CampanaP (2011) Eavesdropping on the Mob: The functional diversification of Mafia activities across territories. European Journal of Criminology8(3): 213–228.
8.
CampanaPVareseF (2012) Listening to the wire: Criteria and techniques for the quantitative analysis of phone intercepts. Trend in Organized Crime15(1): 13–30.
9.
ClarkR (2004) The terror war we can win. The Spectator, 31July.
10.
ConnMParkerJ (2008) Winners and losers in the animal research war. American Scientist96(3): 184–186.
11.
ConnPMRantinFT (2010) Ethical research as the target of animal extremism: An international problem. Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research43(2): 124–126.
12.
CrenshawM (1996) Why violence is rejected or renounced: A case study of oppositional terrorism. In: GregorT (ed.) A Natural History of Peace. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 249–272.
13.
CroninAK (2002/3) Behind the curve: Globalization and international terrorism. International Security27(3): 30–58.
14.
CroninAK (2009) How Terrorism Ends: Understanding the Decline and Demise of Terrorist Campaigns. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
15.
DavidSR (2002) Fatal choices: Israel’s policy of targeted killing. Mideast Security and Policy Studies51: 1–26.
16.
DavisSLCroneyCC (2004) Defining a middle ground for philosophers and production: Bioethics. Poultry Science83(3): 310–313.
17.
DonovanJ (2012) Leadership removal in UK animal rights extremism. Unpublished thesis, Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, UK
18.
DressingHKuchnerCGassP (2005) Lifetime prevalence and impact of stalking in a European population: Epidemiological data from a medium-sized German city. British Journal of Psychiatry187: 168–172.
19.
GaleJACoupeRT (2005) The behavioural, emotional and psychological effects of street robbery on victims. International Review of Victimology12: 1–22.
20.
GueretteRTBowersKJ (2009) Assessing the extent of crime displacement and diffusion of benefits: A review of situational crime prevention evaluations. Criminology47(4): 1331–1368.
21.
HadleyJ (2009) Animal rights extremism and the terrorism question. Journal of Social Philosophy40(3): 363–378.
22.
HaleC (1996). Fear of crime: A review of the literature. International Review of Victimology4: 79–150.
IllmanJ (2005) Animal rights violence spreads fear through U.K. research community. Journal of the National Cancer Institute97(21): 1565–1566.
31.
InnesMFieldingNCopeN (2005) The appliance of science? The theory and practice of crime intelligence analysis. British Journal of Criminology45: 39–57.
32.
JacksonRJarvisLGunningJSmythMB (2011) Terrorism: A Critical Introduction. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
33.
JacobyJECullenFT (1999) The structure of punishment norms: Applying the Rossi-Berk model. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology89(1): 245–312.
34.
JohnstonB (2012) Does decapitation work? Assessing the effectiveness of leadership targeting in counterinsurgency campaigns. International Security36(4): 47–79.
35.
JordanJ (2009) When heads roll: Assessing the effectiveness of leadership decapitation. Security Studies18(4): 719–755.
36.
KorvesiJ (1967) Moral Notions. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
37.
LangdonLSarapuAJWellsM (2004) Targeting the leadership of terrorist and insurgent movements: Historical lessons for contemporary policy makers. Journal of Public and International Affairs15: 59–78.
ShermanLW (2011) Al Capone, the sword of Damocles, and the police–corrections budget ratio. Criminology & Public Policy10(1): 195–206.
55.
SilkeA (2003) Research on Terrorism. London: Frank Cass.
56.
StiegerSBurgerCChildA (2008) Lifetime prevalence and impact of stalking: Epidemiological data from Eastern Australia. European Journal of Psychiatry222(4): 235–241.
57.
US Sentencing Commission (2010) Guidelines Manual. Washington, DC: USSC.
58.
WalbyKMonaghanJ (2011). Private eyes and public order: Policing and surveillance in the suppression of animal-rights activists in Canada. Social Movement Studies10(1): 21–37.
59.
WeisburdDEckJE (2004) What can police do to reduce crime, disorder, and fear?Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science593(1): 42–65.
