Organized Crime

Organized Crime

By: Freda Randall

Date: May 7, 2011

University of Phoenix

CJA/393: Criminal Organizations

Instructor: Robert Brown

Introduction

Organized crime has been a continuous problem in our society for many decades. Many efforts have been made to strop these organizations and their illicit criminal acts, but there are many improvements that have to made. Many questions have arose regarding organized crime, and in this paper some of those questions will be examined and discussed; such as, the problems established by organized crime, the relationships related to organized crime, the legal limitations associated with combating organized crime, including a clique of major federal laws, strategies that support the effort to fighting organized crime and a realistic solution to control organized crime by discussing and evaluating the effectiveness of organized crime prosecutions.

Organized Crime

There are many opinions that surround the definition of organized crime. Organized crime is more than what many people decipher as being mob or cartel related. According to Wikipedia, organized crime is any criminal activity that is carried out by an illegal organizational groups or organized enterprises. Organized crimes are usually considered to be illegal acts being committed, such as, illegal bootlegging, illegal gambling, illegal sell of narcotics, racketeering, embezzlement, political corruption, blackmail, prostitution and murder. Some of the biggest names associated with organized crime include, Al Capone, John Dillinger, "Baby Face" Nelson, and John Gotti. According to Wikipedia, the Sicilians originated and formed the name "mafia" during the Spanish occupation of their surrounding lands. The Sicilians supposedly turned vigilante against local and surrounding law officials. (Wikipedia, 2011)

Problems of Organized Crime

There are many problems associated with organized crime. There are many possibilities that could lead one into getting involved with these criminal organizations; such as, poverty, social upbringing, economics, cultural beliefs, or peer-pressure. Crimes such as, robbery embezzlement, and racketeering are just the start of what these criminal organizations are capable of and the deeds they expect their followers to commit. According to ncjrs.gov, organized crime has been a major issue dating all the way back to the 1900's, which flourished from cities such as, New York and Chicago. The mafia is considered to be one of the largest criminal organizations in the world that use their power to not just manipulate the United States government, but society. According to ncjrs.gov, Chicago alone estimates to about 1,300 active gangs. Organized criminal organizations thrive on developing their own financial, personal, and criminal means to enterprising companies and making a name for themselves. (Ncjrs, 2002)

According to Wikipedia, another problem with organized crime is the political corruption associated with these organizations. Al Capone was to be known as one of the top leaders of the Chicago mob and famous for being able to elude authorities with the aide of corrupt lawyers. Prohibition was a trying period for law enforcement officials, but after much time and effort, law enforcement was able to incarcerate Al Capone for tax evasion and over the years, officials have tried to devise laws to stop criminal activities committed by these organizations. (Wikipedia, 2011)

Relationships Associated with Organized Crime

Relationships of organized crime can go beyond anything we have ever witnessed or anticipated. For example, the mafia is one of the most known organizations that are very close knit to all of their acting members, so close in fact that murderous acts have been committed to protect "their family members." They bond and form relationships to show their loyalty, but that loyalty at times can be broken just as quickly as it was established. The mafia members seem to grow at a steady rate, but the organization feels that the more members that they can accumulate, then the more power they contain and posses to get their illegal deeds and purposes accomplished. Many criminal organizations work together to get their operations in motion. For example, the organization, "The Black Disciples" are suspected of working very closely with the Chicago mob in order to smuggle weapons successfully without any interference from the mob, but not without a high price. For example, the mafia may inform the group that for their protection, then they be allowed to purchase the guns at a cheaper price. (Wikipedia, 2011)

Major Federal Laws

There are many federal laws that are associated with organized crime. According to Kristin M. Finklea, RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) was established in 1970. The purpose of RICO was if someone was convicted of committing two crimes within a 10 year period, then that individual could be legally charged with racketeering. There were thirty-five crimes total that someone could be charged with in order to meet the two crimes committed limit and if the individual was found guilty, they could face up to twenty years in prison or a $250,000.00 fine. There were other factors that the suspect had to meet as well, such as, turning over all assets accumulated and interest that the organization gained, turn all evidence that they may obtain over to state officials, and the victims could file a civil suit against the accused for damages and monetary losses. The federal government however, has to be bale to prove that the connections are related to the mafia in some sort of source and put a freeze on the accused assets and all bank accounts to keep the mafia from gaining control of those active accounts. (Finklea, 2010)

Combating Organized Crime

Combating organized crime can be a huge struggle for law enforcement