Organized Crime

My perception of organized crime is broad. When I first entered the criminal justice I thought organized crime would be the mob or something similar to the "Soprano's" the T.V. show. However organized crime has taken on a new face since he early seventies, now organized crime is symbolist of gang activity. Gangs in America are running wild and the number one contributor to the gang violence in America is the structure of the home environment of its members. I think there are other contributing factors as well such as; the old saying "there is strength in numbers." Many of the gang members in today's society think that joining a gang in some way, shape or form empowers them to harm others and protects them from harm from others. This may be true in some instances. Many times a gang member may be seen wearing his "colors" and granted a pass based on his affiliation with a particular entity. However, the flip side to this is that the other gang may also harm them if the numbers are in their favor.

However through the reading of my text this week and visiting the prescribed web sites, I have come to know organized crime in a different way. I have found that they are involved in more lucrative ventures then just the everyday street violence I hear about on the news. Organized criminals are responsible for arms shipping, burglary, home invasions and a hoax of other negative but lucrative actions. I have found through the text readings this week that organized crime has structure and flexibility, which has made them almost untouchable. I also found that there is honor amongst thieves or loyalty, if you will.

Also in readings this week, I have found there are several different definitions to the term organized crime. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia (2003) refers to organized crime as " "Widespread criminal activities, such as prostitution, interstate theft, or illegal gambling, that occur within a centrally controlled formal structure."

This is one of the definitions I had particular problems with due to its generalization of the term organized crime. Under this definition, any and all parties who are involved in any particular crime in which they receive some form of orders before or while committing the act can be labeled an organized crime syndicate. I think that this makes for a tougher task for the officers assigned to these types of crimes.

The California Control of Profits of OC Act states that, organized crime "means crime which is of a conspiratorial nature..." If this is their definition, than this once again generalizes the term and qualifies more those who should be classified. The idea of an organized crime being a family was also a shock. I thought that maybe a member of a family might have ties to a syndicate, but I did not entertain the idea that one particular family could be the entire entity.

In its entirety, I thought that organized crime was far from the inner city. But, after truly exploring the definition, I found that organized crime is closer than most of us care to admit. To me, the inner city seemed to be the stomping ground for the organized crime units of today. But, I quickly changed my opinion on that when I began to see the crimes they were capable of and the crimes they were committing. They have far surpassed the inner city, minor drug trafficking arena. When I saw that they had been involved in money laundering and overseas transactions, I marveled at their intelligence and discipline. I was also surprised to find that they have loyalty amongst the ranks of their organizations. I personally would snitch or drop a dime on any member of any organization, cartel or syndicate I was a part of, the minute a law officer said I might be getting time for any action they were involved in. Also, I did not think of organized crime organizations as an organization of criminals, ironic as it may sound, I thought they were always lead by someone and they did not have a society within them, I found that to be totally wrong as I found out about the different types of criminal organizations during this weeks studies.