Assessing the Effectiveness of Organized Crime Control Strategies ...

Assessing the Effectiveness of Organized Crime Control Strategies:
A Review of the Literature
organized crime family.” In addition, its requirement of proving a “pattern of racketeering
activity” and its broad definition of “racketeering activity” allowed the prosecution in the
Columbo case to include in a single indictment the various state and federal offences committed
by that Family over a period of 15 years.
The same broad definition of racketeering that has served as a virtue of RICO has also been
subject to considerable criticism (Greek, 1991). RICO has been used to prosecute many
individuals without OC connections and brings with it the stigma of being labeled a “racketeer”
(Abadinsky, 2003:320). In Chicago, for example, a deputy sheriff and traffic court clerk were
convicted under RICO for fixing parking tickets. RICO has also been used frequently to deal
with crimes by legitimate corporations. In fact, any enterprise committing two or more felonies
within a 10-year period is subject to prosecution under RICO (Albanese, 1996:197). RICO has
been judged a “dramatic failure” in attacking OC’s infiltration of legitimate businesses, as fewer
than eight percent of the cases fall within this category (Lynch, 1987). Ironically, many RICO
cases have involved government agencies that have been corrupted (Greek, 1991).
Aside from RICO, federal prosecutors in the US can avail themselves of another statute to target
OC figures. The Continuing Criminal Enterprise (CCE) law, enacted in 1987, is limited to drug
traffickers and makes it a crime to engage in a conspiracy to commit at least three related
violations of felony drug laws with five or more individuals (Albanese, 1996:199). It provides
for mandatory minimum sentences of 20 years for first violations, fines up to $2 million, and
forfeiture of profits and any interest in the enterprise.
Data for 1990 indicates that, for both RICO and CCE cases, just about a third of suspects
investigated are eventually charged (Albanese, 1996:200). This is due to the complexity and
length of these cases, although some of those not charged under RICO or CCE are eventually
charged with other crimes. Once charged, more than 80% of the defendants prosecuted under
these laws are convicted.
Approximately one-half of US states have passed their own RICO laws, although they have not
been used very frequently thus far (Albanese, 1996:199). A survey of local prosecutors found
that less than a third reported a prosecution against OC between 1989 and 1991 (Rebovich,
Coyle, and Schaaf, 1993:8).
In Canada, Sections 467.11 to 467.13 of the Criminal Code prohibits participation in and
contribution to criminal organizations or the commission of indictable offences for the benefit of
such an organization. This review did not uncover any studies assessing the implementation or
impact of these provisions on criminal organizations or their activities.
4.2 Prosecuting Organized Crime Kingpins
For decades, law enforcement strategies have focused on identifying and prosecuting the leaders
of criminal enterprises (Lyman and Potter, 1997:433). Members may be charged or arrested for
relatively minor infractions. Charges for even small infractions provides prosecutors with the
leverage to conduct further investigations of the group. The goal is to get “smaller fish” to “flip”
and testify against the heads of the organization. The ultimate aim is to disrupt the group. This
20 | Research and Statistics Division / Department of Justice Canada