NCJ Number
91575
Date Published
1983
Length
170 pages
Annotation
The authors explore the use of police intelligence systems to control organized crime, probing the essential dilemma of effectively enforcing the law versus upholding constitutionally protected civil liberties.
Abstract
As a basis for this examination, they redefine organized crime in terms of its role in society. They explain the contradictions inherent in the police intelligence process, clarify its activities and role in law enforcement, and suggest realistic reforms. These reforms include radically restructuring the occupational environment in which intelligence must function by changing the rigid, authoritarian style of police management to an analytic and participatory style, reassessing the selection and training criteria used for the domestic intelligence community, and setting rigorous standards for the intelligence process to minimize bias. One relatively cost-effective yet modest reform which could be immediately implemented is publicly articulated standards and goals for intelligence units. Another reform, computerized intelligence systems -- if properly regulated and controlled -- will result in long-term savings and refined intelligence assessments. Footnotes and name and subject indexes are provided. (Publisher abstract modified)