Assessing the Effectiveness of Organized Crime Control Strategies ...

4.0 Organized Crime Control Strategies and Their
Effectiveness
T
his chapter examines the effectiveness of the various strategies and tools available to combat
OC. These measures are highly varied, ranging from the incapacitation of major OC figures
and the forfeiture of their proceeds of crime to witnesses protection programs and electronic
surveillance. As these initiatives cannot be readily categorized into discrete groups (e.g., legal
versus investigative strategies), they are all presented in this one section. The order of their
presentation is not a reflection of their relative importance, prominence, or effectiveness.
4.1 Prosecuting Persons Involved in Organized Crime
A number of countries have passed legislation prohibiting participation in the activities of a
criminal entity or organization. Perhaps the best known of these laws is the Racketeer
Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute in the US. Enacted in 1970, RICO defines
racketeering very broadly, including murder, kidnapping, gambling, arson, robbery, bribery,
extortion, drug dealing, and a list of federal offences, such as loansharking, counterfeiting, mail
and wire fraud (Abadinsky, 2003:318).
RICO has facilitated the prosecution of those involved in OC, as the use of traditional conspiracy
statutes has proven difficult. Rather than having to prove a series of distinct conspiracies, under
RICO it is a crime to belong to an enterprise that is involved in a “pattern of racketeering”, even
if that pattern was displayed by other members. A “pattern” refers to just two or more of the
specified offences within a ten-year period. The violation of RICO’s criminal provisions may
result in imprisonment for 20 years and/or a fine of up to $25,000 (Abadinsky, 2003:319).
RICO also contains provisions according to which citizens can sue for damages to their business
or property. They stand to recover threefold the damages sustained, as well as the cost of the
suit. RICO also has asset forfeiture provisions, as well as those pertaining to the divestiture of
the interests of OC figures in businesses and unions. These issues are discussed in the sections
on the Seizure and Forfeiture of Assets and Injunctions, Divestitures, and Trusteeships.
By 1990, more than 1,000 major and minor OC figures had been convicted under RICO and
given lengthy prison sentences (Abadinsky, 2003:319). The threat of long sentences has also
served as a stick to gain the cooperation of defendants. Also, Giuliani (1986:106) argues that
RICO “enables the Government to present a jury with the whole picture of how an enterprise,
such as an organized crime family, operates. Rather than pursuing the leader or a small number
of subordinates for a single crime or scheme, the Government is able to indict the entire
hierarchy of an organized crime family for the diverse criminal activities in which that
“enterprise” engages.”
All five New York crime families have been disabled by RICO convictions. Giuliani (1986:106)
points out that RICO allowed for the prosecution of the “entire upper echelon of the Colombo
Research and Statistics Division / Department of Justice Canada | 19