NCJ Number
230770
Date Published
2010
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This chapter looks at the infiltration of the construction industry by organized crime groups in Italy.
Abstract
This chapter analyzes the different stages of infiltration by organized crime groups in the public construction industry in Italy. The analysis uses the script approach which means identifying a crime according to the steps followed by the criminal. It looks at three different Italian locales with a high degree of organized crime groups - Sicily, Calabria, and Campania. In each case, the script approach is used to analyze the data provided by the local judicial authorities regarding corruption in the public construction industry and follows the dynamic of organized crime action: preparation, enabling conditions, target selection, the acts or doing of violence and corruption, and the after-math of the acts. The analysis highlights the similarities of these three cases in the activities of organized criminal groups involved in infiltrating the public construction industry in Italy. These similarities can be found in the design of the bid and awarding procedures; in the execution of the works; and in the control of the results. The chapter also highlights the differences among these three cases. Finally, situational measures that could be applied to reduce the opportunities for organized crime to infiltrate the public construction industry are discussed. These measures include requiring more control over the process, increasing the risks of being caught, reducing the benefits of infiltration, changing the opportunities available for infiltration, and reducing the excuses for not fighting the infiltration of organized crime into the public construction industry in Italy. Notes and references