Overview of Organized Crime

• NCJ Number: 95261
• Author(s): M E Walsh
• Date Published: 1983
• Length: 56 pages
• Grant Number(s): 80-IJ-CX-0066
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored

Annotation

This review of studies on organized crime focuses on trends since the 1967 President's Crime Commission Task Force Report on Organized Crime, covering its involvement in violence, gambling, drug trafficking, legitimate business, loansharking, theft and fencing, and political corruption.

Abstract

The paper first traces how the definition of organized crime has been broadened to include groups other than the Mafia or Cosa Nostra which engage in activities associated with illicit entrepreneurship. It also explores organization studies of the Mafia, distinctions between organized and other types of crime, and the impact of supply and demand on organized crime. The discussion of violence concludes that syndicate crime is now less violent, while violence is characteristic of the new non-Mafia organized crime groups. In the gambling area, studies demonstrate that organized crime's real opportunities are in legal gambling settings. Changes in drug trafficking since 1967 are reviewed, with attention to sources of supply, drug use patterns, and the decreasing role of syndicated crime in the marketplace. The paper notes that organized crime's involvement in the legitimate economy has become more entrenched. Reports on organized crime's involvement with loansharking indicate that this is a sideline rather than a major activity. The discussion of theft and fencing considers interstate theft rings, narcotics trafficking where stolen property is bartered for drugs, cargo theft, and distribution of bootleg cigarettes and pirated tapes and records. Fencing usually involves alliances with professional criminals, although the syndicate does dominate the 'chop shop' for stolen vehicle parts. The final area examined is public corruption, including payoff systems, gambling operations, attempts to influence backers of political figures, and the investigative roles of journalists and commissions. The paper provides over 80 references.