Major Issues Relating to Organized Crime Within the Context of Economic Relationships

• NCJ Number: 194003
• Author(s): Margaret E. Beare; R. T. Naylor
• Date Published: April 1999
• Length: 61 pages
• Sale Source: Nathanson Centre for the Study of Organized Crime and Corruption
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: Canada
• Note: Provided to the National Criminal Justice Reference Service as a courtesy by Dr. Margaret Beare, Director of the Nathanson Centre for the Study of Organized Crime and Corruption at York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. http://www.yorku.ca/nathanson

Annotation

This paper examines organized crime in terms of the ways it has traditionally been regarded and in terms of the economic relationships that organized crime requires for its success, as well as law enforcement and policy responses in Canada and other countries.

Abstract

Politics pervade discussions of organized crime; the term itself has received varied definitions. Traditional law enforcement perspectives in the United States and Canada from the 1960’s focused on the concept of a tightly organized, singular, alien, conspiratorial group. Critiques and alternative paradigms began emerging in the late 1970’s. Economic crime received little attention from economists until Schelling’s work in 1967. However, legitimate business and illegitimate activity are intertwined. The transactions may be between conduct that law enforcement and the criminal justice process should address and conduct for which economic regulators should take responsibility. The overlap between economic regulation and criminal law enforcement has gradually increased. Categories of economic offenses include predatory offenses such as embezzlement and ransom kidnapping, enterprise offenses that involve the production or distribution of illegal goods and services, and commercial offenses such as fraud. Corporate crime may be a fourth category. The crimes vary in how proceeds are distributed and the implications for the economy with respect to growth in the gross national product, the use of violence, corruption, money laundering, and taxes and government spending. Regular police methods are often ineffective in dealing with enterprise or corporate crimes. However, agreement exists that both domestic and foreign interagency cooperation is crucial organized crime enforcement. What police and legislators do can also have unanticipated impacts on crime and society. Issues that the Law Commission report noted as needing further attention include criminal markets, money laundering, the distinction between civil and criminal matters, the role of the government in legislating morality, the government as an instigator of crime and the appropriate roles for public and private police agencies. Reference notes, list of experts, and 71 references