Personal Perception of Organized Crime

Personal Perception of Organized Crime

Since the early 1900s, one organized crime groups have been coexisting here in the United States under legitimate businesses with the intention to gain money and power from unlawful crimes, the Italian mafia. This group would be the center of attention in many movies from the early 70s to today entertainment industry. The Italian mafia goes by different names the Mob, Mafia, or La Cos Nostra, is the umbrella names of several clandestine organizations in Sicily and the United States. These groups of organized criminals would form their own organization, before coming to the Unites States because they believe that they could not trust Span’s law enforcement. So the citizens of Sicily would organize their own protection of society would eventually would evolve into the Mafia. As the years go by many more organized crime groups would appear from Russia, Mexico, and African Americans groups. In this paper I will discuss the why I feel that these groups are assumed to break the laws of our government and compare the difference of my definition to what is actually read from the book” Organized Crimes”. I would also like to discuss the characteristics that might be associated with organized criminal behavior.

WHAT IS ORGANIZED CRIME?
When I think of organized crime, I think of Italian mafia, Russian Mob, Mexican Mafia, biker gangs like the Outlaws and Hell’s Angels willing to get what they want under a well thought out plan. These organized crime groups work under legitimate businesses to front their illicit good and services to profit money. Just like in the television show “The Sopranos, “where Tony the main boss use a construction company to front his underground illicit drug and services for profit and power (Lyman & Potter., 2007). My perception also looks at the biker gangs using local bars and Taverns to selling illicit drugs for profit, which they also legitimate businesses to cover their illegal drug trafficking. Russian mob, also portrays the needs of money and power, their use of prostitution, drug trafficking, gun running, and also professional sport players as an international enterprise. The Russian mob used extortion by targeting three members of the professional hockey team Alexei Zhitnik, Vladimir Malakhov, and Alexander Mogilny. In the entire organized crime group, there are bosses, and there are those who take orders that need to be carried out. I think it is just like the police department, in which the chief is the first inline and than a captain, and so on, the chain of command is the same as a type of criminal organizations.
How does your perception compare to the definitions in the readings? I feel that my perception is the same as the reading in the book we both agree that organized crime groups have the greed for money and power. Organized crime groups would do anything in their organization to get it, even if it meant to use violence or corruption in politics toward getting what they want. With the economy today, new ways of organized crime are being brought forward, but the problem is that law enforcement is having a little trouble keeping up (Lyman & Potter., 2007). According to Lyman & Potter., (2007), with new computer and communications technology, expanding air transportation services and new ways to do banking by electronics, many of these services can be done, before law enforcement would catch on. To me it definitely is a problem to deal with as the United States goes through harder times. Each year law is changing, and new technology is discovered in way to help catch these organized criminal, but some are smarter than others and avoid being caught. What characteristics do you think are associated with organized criminal behavior? I think that the characteristics of a person who are associated with organized crime are those in areas of gangs, children who have no family values or people who feel that law is behind them, but if you think about it, the mafia would keep their own family involved. The kids that look for someone to help them out usually run into gangs or people who are related to a gang member. Many of these members of gangs have no family (parents), so be able to belong to something as child means a lot. Many kids will join a gang to belong to family, but the family they joining are criminals. Once a kid is under the control of the gang he or she will need to prove themselves, ether by hurt someone, or killing them. I think from watching shows like “Locked up” or “America behind bars” shows are pathetic some of these gang members are, about who there are and what they have accomplished in their lives. I think that some of these organized crime groups feel that sometime they can’t be touched, because of who they are and who they know. The mafia back in the day was like that, they know who was who and when things needed to be taken care of. In recent years, corruption of some local police officers can change a person to become a criminal. Although each year, organized crime groups profit from illegal activity more of them are being caught by law enforcement. The reason being is new technology and money that law enforcement will need in order to stay up with the new changes of organized crime groups. Since the beginning of the 1900’s to now, we have seem many different types of crime organizations go down, but many different criminal group have come up.

References
Front-lines, RUSSIAN ORGANIZED CRIME: CSIS Task Force Report [1997] Center for Strategic and International Studies. (1997). Retrieved on Monday 8, 2013 from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/hockey/mafia/csis.html
Lyman, M. D., & Potter, G. W. (2007), Organized Crime (4th Ed.), retrieved on Monday 8, 2013, from New Jersey, NY published by Prentice Hall.