Structure, Activity, and Control of Chinese Gangs: Law Enforcement Perspectives

This article, part of a larger study of extortion racketeering in New York City's Chinese communities, was based on information collected from in-depth interviews with local and Federal law enforcement authorities (N=23). In addition to presenting the justice system's perspective on Chinese criminal organizations, the paper also examines how police, Federal agents, and prosecutors operate to attack Chinese gangs and organized crime and discusses some of the major problems encountered by law enforcement authorities in controlling crime in the Chinese community. Criminal justice practitioners must overcome four major hurdles in trying to control Chinese criminality in the United States: (1) the need to effectively attack the adult organizations behind the gangs; (2) a need to recruit more Chinese personnel for service in law enforcement; (3) a requirement for law enforcement personnel who speak Fukienese, the language of increasing numbers of offenders from within the Chinese community; and (4) an increased need to cooperate with law enforcement authorities abroad, especially with respect to drug trafficking, money laundering and alien smuggling. Table, notes, appendix, references