Controlling_Organized_Crime

Organized crime is a huge problem that the world has been fighting for years. Organized crime has been glorified is such movies as Hoodlum, Casino, and Belly. Movies such as these have given many people the perception that organized crime is a good thing, due to the money, power, and respect that is comes with. According to Organized Crime (2007), to a great extent these images form the basis for stereotyping what the public generally perceives as organized crime. However, these images fail to portray organized crime realistically. The truth is that organized crime is a huge problem that affects the world in a very negative manner. In this paper, the author will explain what organize crime really is, the negative impact that it causes to lives and the economy, the legal limitations of it, and realistic solutions to combat organized crime. Organized crime can be defined as a group of 3 or more that is organized structurally for illegal purposes such as drug dealing, political corruption, violence, and/or money laundering. The causes of individuals joining these groups can stem from many reasons such as the Alien Conspiracy Theory, Differential Association, Anomie, and/or many others. Problems Presented with Organized Crime The economy and law abiding citizens are mostly affected by organized crime groups. According to Organized Crime (2007), it states that citizens are sometimes the direct victims of organized crime enterprises by methods of violence, extortion, intimidation, etc.). Secondly, billions of dollars of tax revenue from organized crime go uncollected (estimated at $37 billion in lost taxes every year), resulting in higher tax rates for law abiding citizens. Thirdly, expenses related to law enforcement, criminal prosecution, and imprisonment of convicted members create a substantial drain on the economy of any community. Organized crime has created a huge impact on many communities that are striving to achieve a safe and law abiding community free of violence and criminal activity. It has torn down communities that were once a nice place to stay and has stereotyped it as a bad crime infested neighborhood that no one wants to live in, business owners began to leave, homeowners sell their property and move away, and poverty is prevalent. Relationships Established by Organized Crime The relationships established by organized crime are brought on by power, money, and greed. Many groups will form bonds of control. For example, there are many different Crip gangs claiming different areas just in Southern California alone. Two different neighborhood gangs join forces and call for a truce to overtake the revenue or territory of another gang. Even though they are all categorized as Crips, these groups are only loyal to themselves, their particular gang, and purpose. They will join forces to eliminate another in order to gain the money that they were making from their drug sells. There are personal relationships that are formed in the case of Madam St. Clair and her gang. Madam St. Clair and her Gang was an organized crime group that was in existence during the 1920’s. The entire group works as a cohesive group that involve themselves in illegal activity such as the numbers racket and bookkeeping to make money and protect their business ventures. The bonds that formed the group are so closely related that each entity protects the others and have an allegiance to protect the boss. These groups are structured in a Patrimonial/Patron-Client Model with a boss at the top that makes decisions and people in position under her that carry out her orders, such as Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson. Each person in the group has a duty, responsibility, and obligation to the group and its’ sole purposes, which was to make money. For example, Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson who was her right hand man that she trusted to carry out her instructions, she personally confided in him about business matters, and for personal protection even if it cost him his own life. Within the organization there were many other people under Bumpy Johnson. None was as close to Madam St. Clair as he was, yet they were all loyal and down for her cause. Empirical and Speculative Theories Related to Organized Crime Empirical and speculative theories are used when referring to organized crime and criminal behavior. Some the theories that pertained to organized crime and Madam St. Clair’s and her gang are Smith’s Enterprise Theory, Socioeconomic Stratification, Differential Opportunity, and Alien Conspiracy Theory. Smith’s Enterprise Theory Smith’s Enterprise Theory is when legitimate businesses turn to criminal activities to produce more money and customers. In the case of Madam St. Clair’s Gang, many businesses such as barber shops, soda shops, and night clubs serve as bookkeeping and number’s facilities to make more money. Regular customers could go into these business as if they were carrying on with their normal routines and turn in their numbers discreetly, instead of this being done in the public eye. Socioeconomic Stratification Socioeconomic Stratification is explains the need of the community, Sugar Hill: Harlem 1900’s, to find other means besides work to produce more income into the home. People could bet hard earned nickels and dimes’ and turn it into several times that amount. The residents’ of Harlem saw that illegal money was being made from the numbers running game with minimal amount of negative repercussions from law enforcement. At this time, it was the social normal for the community as well as accepted by residents. Sutherland’s Differential Opportunity According to Organized Crime (2007), sociologist Sutherland (1973: 5), believes that criminal behavior is learned as a result of associations with others, and the propensity for innovating through criminality depends on the strength of these associations. Sutherland argues that criminal behavior occurs when definitions favorable to violation of the law exceed definitions unfavorable to violation of the law. Sutherland suggests that factors such as deprivation, limited access to legitimate alternatives, and exposure to innovative success models (i.e., pimps, gamblers, or drug dealers) create a susceptibility to criminal behavior. The bookkeeper’s and others in the area began to make a considerable amount of money, so others began to follow in their footsteps and learn how to play and organize to get a piece of the pie. Alien Conspiracy Theory The Alien Conspiracy Theory explains the fact that for 1900’s Harlem Madam St. Clair and her Gang was largely accepted by other residents. The gang was famed for bring in revenue to the people and city of Harlem. According to Understanding Organized Crime (2007), the text states that there is evidence that many organized crime groups organized themselves around ethnic backgrounds (Abadinsky, 1985). Madam St. Clair brought the numbers game to Harlem using her own money from her birth place of Martinique and it was accepted in to the relatively black community of Harlem. Legal Limitations to Combat Organized Crime Law enforcement agencies have devised many ways to combat organized crime. New technology has become a helpful tool in the war on organized crime with the help of organized list such as the Interpol, computers systems that quickly transfer information, technological cameras, and specialized agencies to handle different aspect of reporting information of organized crime groups. According to Interpol (2013), Interpol is the world’s largest international police organization, with 190 member countries. Our role is to enable police around the world to work together to make the world a safer place. Our high-tech infrastructure of technical and operational support helps meet the growing challenges of fighting crime in the 21st century. Even though law enforcement agencies are at the top of their mark on combating organized crime groups and activities, they still have a ways to go, due to criminals constantly finding ways to elude the law and some countries relentless efforts to get involved with Interpol. One of the key reasons that law enforcement cannot effectively combat organized crime is because of the restrictions place on them by the Federal and State Constitutions. Federal and State constitutions create laws that not only protect law abiding citizens, but there are laws that are in place to protect criminals. The United States laws are broken up into jurisdictions that create and enforce their own laws of investigation, apprehension, and prosecution. Even though these laws are there to protect citizens, there are many dysfunctional processes in communication within the system. The criminals are very smart when it comes to the law. They are of these dysfunctional processes and take advantage of them for their own personal gain. For example, certain law enforcement agencies do not have to report information that they have gathers to other agencies, in order to keep the proper lines of communication open for the proper apprehension of criminal organizations. Some of these problems stem from the regulations and laws that pertain to different jurisdictions and their procedures. Realistic Solutions to Control Organized Crime One possible solution of communication problem between agencies and jurisdiction is that united laws need to be written for the apprehension of organized crime groups and its members. There should be a universal system with a computerized technology to compute information, so that any and every agencies can use it and the information can be transmitted in a matter of seconds. Different restrictions within agencies in a major setback to how criminal are brought to justice. If all agencies had open access to information on organized crime groups, more information could be added at any time or obtain to help bring them to justice in a more uniformed manner. Then criminals cannot run from one jurisdiction to another, using their knowledge of the law, to escape extradition in any manner. Investigations can flow more smoothly due to communications practices being more effective. Officers will never feel like their hard work has come to an end and that they are not a part of the process to see the criminals arrested. This can also help in the reduction of dismissed cases, dropped charges, and false arrest. Laws to Control Organized Crime The United States has several laws over the years for the purpose of arresting, prosecuting, and investigating organized crime members. The most recognized law is the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations or RICO (18 USC Chapter 96). The RICO Act is a federal law written as part of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970. Racketeering is classified as a crime that takes place through or while undertaking an illegal business or commercial venture. The activity of racketeering is neither specific to solely illegal nor legal business operations. A wide array of the types of Racketeering exists. (Laws.com, 2013) This law allows for anyone who knowingly and willfully became members of domestic or international criminal organizations or known associates of such organizations and engaged in organized criminal behavior to be investigated, arrested, prosecuted and sentenced to a minimum of five years and up to $20,000 in fines as well as forfeiture of any and all assets in their possession. This law is effective in fighting organized crime there needs to be more laws in place that coincide with this one to be effective. In conclusion, organized crime groups are violating the liberties and laws of how this nation was designed. Movies have given different people in society the notion that being a part of an organized crime group is a famed position. Movies make being a glorified gangster or criminal look easy and that law enforcement agencies have a hard time trying to investigate and apprehend them. The truth is that law enforcement agencies are well more advances that those depicted in movies, even though there are a few dysfunctional processes that need to be worked out. And as criminals are getting smarter, so is law enforcement. Interpol. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.interpol.int/   Laws.com. (2013). Retrieved from http://criminal.laws.com/rico Lyman, M. D., & Potter, G. W. (2007). Organized Crime (4th ed.). Retrieved from University of Phoenix. Mallory, S.L. (2007). Understanding Organized Crime. Retrieved from University of Phoenix.