NCJ Number
182339
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 48 Issue: 3 Dated: March 2000 Pages: 45-47
Date Published
March 2000
Length
3 pages
Annotation
Drug trafficking, illegal arms trading, prostitution, and other crimes perpetrated or controlled by international groups are reaching communities across the country and should receive enforcement responses that use an initial two-step process to assist in the identification and investigation of these crimes.
Abstract
Technological advances, the demise of the Soviet Union, and increasing global economic interdependence have helped produce a fertile situation for international criminal syndicates to prosper. Local police other than large metropolitan or State agencies generally lack preparation for these new and diverse threats due to the absence of specific training from local police academies and in-service training programs. Departments outside major urban centers should take steps to ascertain the existence of international criminal involvement in their jurisdictions. Doing so requires research, as well as an analysis of past criminal activity. Agencies should next develop a comprehensive, proactive strategy for deterring future activity. This two-step approach will both provide a baseline for determining the existence of current activity and educate patrol officers, investigators, and commanders of the tendencies of foreign organized crime. The informational stage should focus on a concentration of criminal activity in a particular geographic area and a change in a particular crime classification as the two primary indicators. Agencies should continue their assessments through the development of a situational survey to track unusual tendencies associated with international crime groups. Patrol officers are the vital link throughout this process as the focal point between the agency and their community. Photograph