NCJ Number
137535
Journal
Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice Volume: 8 Issue: 1 Dated: (February 1992) Pages: 36-61
Date Published
1992
Length
26 pages
Annotation
Rural organized crime in part of eastern Kentucky is examined with respect to its types of participants, patterns of criminality, and relationships with political and law enforcement corruption.
Abstract
The focus on organized crime in urban areas has tended to obscure the reality that rural areas have drug dealers, bootleggers, prostitutes, gamblers, loan sharks, vehicle thieves, fences, and the like. However, data from local news media, government agencies, and participant observations in five counties revealed 28 rural organized crime networks. Their criminal enterprises included wholesale production and supply and retail sales and service. Twenty-five of the networks make use of some form of corrupt relationships with public officials and law enforcement officers. Corruption takes the form of official acquiescence, the use of familial relations, bribery and extortion, and active participation. Thus, organized criminals and public officials form a close, symbiotic bond that usually places the public officials in the center of the illicit enterprise. Tables and 53 references