NCJ Number
160761
Date Published
1995
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This chapter reviews the challenges of organized crime in contemporary Europe and the necessity of mobilizing public opinion to mount an intensive campaign against such international crime.
Abstract
The creation and accumulation of wealth, coupled with "regulation," has attracted crime on to the international stage. The simplicity achieved in communications has added to their importance in every form of transaction. The centralization of power, so popular in board rooms and even more so in government, is a magnet for the criminal. Catching and depriving criminals of their gains is a cause that elicits public support, but visible success is the essential factor required by the public. Governments and international organizations are continually organizing and reorganizing the barriers to theft and fraud. Various devices are used: the creation and updating of laws, transnational agreements on extradition of suspects and criminals, the seizing of assets, and the capture of illegal profits. Law enforcers recognize that more attention must be paid to setting up and maintaining civil and administrative enforcement actions commensurate with international standards. Much good has been achieved, particularly in financial services, but money laundering of the proceeds of fraud against the European Union and on behalf of the drug cartels is still too easy. Combatting fraud requires global controls, but the financial resources and government support for enforcement and preventive measures are lagging behind the need. Public awareness of the dangers posed by international organized crime has yet to be raised by the media and the politicians to a level equivalent to that which the public needs to understand; it is the public's money that is being stolen and misused.