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Organized Crime Control - The Limits of Government Intervention

NCJ Number
101508
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 14 Issue: 3 Dated: (1986) Pages: 239-247
Author(s)
F T Marterns
Date Published
1986
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This article explores generally prevailing explanations of organized crime in the United States, chiefly the 'parasitic' and 'symbiotic' models, and offers in their steads a synthesis of these two called the 'functionally exploitative' model.
Abstract
According to this model, law enforcement policies and strategies affect conditions in the illicit market. The proper role of law enforcement is to allocate scarce resources in accordance with the greatest 'social good.' This may occur by either reducing the supply of or the demand for illegal goods by allowing a monopoly to exist in the illicit market, or it might be by allowing competition. The article concludes that eliminating organized crime could destroy a cherished American principle -- the freedom from government intervention. The goal of law enforcement is to maintain balance between the obligation of the government to maintain its legitimacy and the civil rights of citizens. (Author abstract)