NCJ Number
212845
Date Published
2003
Length
13 pages
Annotation
Based on an ongoing U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice project, this chapter outlines some issues related to measuring transnational organized crime (TOC) statistically, along with a country case study and the specific issues raised in respect to three intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) that may reasonably play an essential role in the control of TOC.
Abstract
In the fight against TOC on the global level, three intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) are identified as instrumental in controlling TOC: the United Nations, INTERPOL, and World Customs Organization (WCO). However, if these three bodies are to identify “best practices” in countering TOC, they need to plan for the long term and demonstrate logical and detailed stages of planning. In regards to the statistical measurement of TOC, findings presented include: 1) Some good work in the form of case studies has been done. 2) Relatively little is known about TOC on a broad scale. 3) Different methods are used by cooperating countries to compile databases on TOC making these data sets currently non-comparable. 4) The objective of compiling a cross-national database on TOC may or may not be feasible and will need time and detailed work to be achieved. 5) The problem of the standardizing intellectual tradition across the intergovernmental agencies involved in the types of tasks to be undertaken in the future needs to be resolved. 6) There is a potential problem in the coordination of the work between different intergovernmental agencies. 1 Note