PhD in Security and Crime Science (UCL). Director of the Centre of Criminology and International Security at Universidad ORT Uruguay, Guest Lecturer at the Hertie School Berlin, and Fellow at CELIV-UNTREF Buenos Aires. Consultant for international organisations such as the IDB, GI-TOC, and MOPAC.
Gonzalo Croci is a researcher and policy advisor specialising in organised crime, illegal markets, criminal governance, and security policies. His work focuses on the structural and institutional conditions that enable criminal organisations to operate, expand, and persist across Latin America.
He holds a PhD in Security and Crime Science from University College London (UCL), an MSc in Latin American Studies from the University of Oxford, and a Master of Public Policy from the Hertie School, Berlin. He was a Visiting Scholar at Yale School of Management in 2019.
Gonzalo is currently Director of the Centre of Criminology and International Security at Universidad ORT Uruguay, where he also holds a Full Professor position. He serves as Guest Lecturer at the Hertie School in Berlin, teaching the course Organised Crime, Illegal Markets and Public Policy, and as a Fellow at CELIV-UNTREF in Buenos Aires.
He has served as a consultant for international organisations such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) — contributing to the design of security and justice programmes totalling over one billion dollars across Latin America — the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC), the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) in London, and DCAF.
His work has been published in The British Journal of Criminology, the Journal of Criminal Justice, the International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice, the International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice, the International Criminal Justice Review, among others.
Crime Without Punishment: Understanding Impunity Related to Organized Crime
International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice
The Shifting Landscape of Organised Crime
International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy
Breaking the Cycle: The Role of the Criminal Justice System in Understanding Homicide Rates
Journal of Criminal Justice, 90, 102103
A Realistic Evaluation of Homicide Reduction Programmes in Latin America
International Criminal Justice Review
Comprendiendo las Variaciones Globales y Regionales de los Homicidios
Política Criminal, 19(38), Art. 4, pp. 78–112
Effectiveness and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System of Latin America: An Overview
International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice
An Institutional Perspective to Understand Latin America's High Levels of Homicide
The British Journal of Criminology, 63(5), 1199–1218
A Realistic Approach to Policy Formulation: The Adapted EMMIE Framework
Policy Studies, 44(4), 433–453
The Influence of Government Effectiveness and Corruption on the High Levels of Homicide in Latin America
Social Sciences, 10(5), 172
Crimen sin Castigo: Entendiendo la Impunidad Relacionada al Crimen Organizado
Documento de Trabajo Nº 009, CELIV / UNTREF
Las Cambiantes Dinámicas del Crimen Organizado en América Latina
Documento de Investigación Nro. 150, Universidad ORT Uruguay
¿Por Qué Tanta Violencia Homicida en América Latina? Caracterizando el Fenómeno y Expandiendo su Marco de Interpretación
Documentos de Trabajo Nº 94, Fundación Carolina, Madrid
Estudio sobre Homicidios en Argentina: Un Análisis del Período 2001–2021
Centro de Estudios Latinoamericanos sobre Inseguridad y Violencia (CELIV)
From Safe Havens to Hotspots: The Spread of Organised Crime Violence in Latin America
Palgrave Handbook of Criminology and the Global South, 2nd ed.
Mapping the structure, geographic reach, and violence dynamics of illegal markets across Latin America — covering drug markets, extortion networks, and criminal group specialisation. Current projects include a scoping review of illegal drug markets, crime script analyses of drug trafficking networks and their operational stages, a revealed comparative advantage approach to market specialisation, and an integral analysis of criminal group structures and violence in Montevideo.
Investigating the causes and patterns of crime and violence in Latin America — from homicide trends and the age–crime curve to domestic violence, robbery, fear of crime, and recidivism. This agenda examines how individual behaviour, drug consumption patterns, and institutional responses interact to shape criminal trajectories and public safety outcomes.
Examining how corruption, weak institutions, and state capture sustain conditions of impunity for organised crime across the region. Projects in this agenda explore corruption in Latin America, the relationship between crime exposure and democratic accountability, and the factors that allow criminal organisations to operate with limited state response.
Developing evidence-based tools, indices, and frameworks to inform public policy on crime and security in data-scarce environments. This agenda includes a proxy-based organised crime index for weak-institution settings, a prototype typology of violent cities, and a revealed comparative advantage framework for mapping illegal market specialisation — with the goal of translating comparative evidence into actionable policy recommendations for governments and international organisations.
Universidad ORT Uruguay — Montevideo
Hertie School — Berlin
CELIV-UNTREF — Buenos Aires
University College London (UCL) — Jill Dando Institute
Interview on Organised Crime and Security Policy in Uruguay
Policy discussion on criminal dynamics, institutional capacity, and evidence-based security reform.
2024 GI-TOCExpert Profile — Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime
Research fellow profile at one of the world's leading networks focused on organised crime and illicit economies.
Ongoing El ObservadorContributor Profile
Analysis and commentary on crime, security, and public policy for Uruguay's leading news outlet.
Ongoing UCL DiscoveryPhD Thesis — University College London
Doctoral dissertation on criminal governance, institutional effectiveness, and homicide in Latin America. Open Access.
2022 ORT UruguayResearcher Profile — Faculty of Administration & Social Sciences
Official academic profile listing research projects, publications, and institutional activities at ORT Uruguay.
OngoingFor research collaborations, media enquiries, consultancy projects, or academic correspondence, please reach out by email.
gonzalo.croci@gmail.com
Universidad ORT Uruguay
Centre of Criminology and International Security
Cuareim 1451, Montevideo, Uruguay
Hertie School
Friedrichstraße 180
10117 Berlin, Germany
CELIV — Centro de Estudios Latinoamericanos
sobre Inseguridad y Violencia (UNTREF)
Buenos Aires, Argentina