1 The Evolution of Organized Crime/Gangs in America

Research Paper: The Evolution of Organized Crime/Gangs in America UMUC

2 The Evolution of Organized Crime/Gangs in America Abstract Organized crime has existed for many years and is not going anywhere. The purpose of this paper is to outline how organized crime has evolved into modern day gangs and how law enforcement has evolved with it. These crime organizations are a collaboration of individuals who will go to any means to produce a profit whether it is the sale of drugs, firearms, or people. These things that they use for profit have changed over the years, but their own selfishness stays the same. Law enforcement has done their best to combat it starting with local police and eventually reaching into federal jurisdiction. It is a war that has been fought for a long time and will continue to be fault for much longer.

3 The Evolution of Organized Crime/Gangs in America

What is Organized Crime? Organized crime is a coalition of individuals with the same non-legal goal: rendering a profit. This type of criminal activity thrives on the concept of power in numbers and has ranged from the Mafia to modern day businesses and corporations (Ryan, 1995). Although the faces have changed, the organizations have not. Upon my research, I have noticed that these organized crime groups often surround nationality. Italians, Russians, Japanese, Africans, and other European nationalities all have tied in the formation and operation of different groups (FBI, 2011). The types of crime associated with organized crime are vast. In terms of monetary gain, things such as the illegal sale of drugs, guns, and alcohol have been bringing in profit for many years. There is also the use and abuse of gambling and human trafficking (Albanese, 2004) . This is most often carried out in the terms of the probability of who will win a sporting event. In addition, there is the trafficking of women and children. Another attribute of organized crime is that the groups involve tend to be territorial. They believe that a certain part of a city or crime industry is under their own personally proclaimed jurisdiction. In order for this type of system to work, the people must fear the crime organization and respect them as such. Also, in order for this type of a system to work, there is always some type of hierarchy in place. This can range from something as simple as there being one person in charge and everyone follows the orders of that individual. This type of group is more common among street

4 The Evolution of Organized Crime/Gangs in America gangs. On the other hand, the hierarchy can also have a complex system of leadership that has often been seen in the past in organizations such as the Mafia (Felson, 2009). Generally speaking, organized crime also includes the criminal groups known as gangs and, upon my research, may sometimes be used interchangeably. From my own personal perspective upon this research, I would say the idea of organized crime organization refers more so to old school organizations such as the Mafia that still exist today where as gangs have evolved a little differently . Therefore, gangs are more so a type of organized crime instead of an interchangeable word. The character traits of gangs are the same as all of those listed, but the number of them has grown and the faces can tend to be different then they once were. Crime organizations such as the Mafia tried to make an attempt at least maintained a respectable personal image in society (Fuller, 2003) where as in a world of street gangs the individuals tend to care less. The History of Organized Crime Organized crime has its roots in Europe but it did not stay there (Decker, 2009). As far as the United States, its roots can be traced going back further than what has become to be known as the Mafia. Prior to the reign of this Italian crime organization there were gangs such as the Five Points Gang in New York. This was the Chicago gang that Al Capone was part of before moving to New York and becoming a large name in the Mafia (Ryan, 1995). A large accelerant to the formation of the crime organizations was the establishment of prohibition in the United States. In the early 1900s the United States outlawed the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages and because of this, crime organizations came swooping in providing alcohol to people illegally and part of doing so was the use and sale of illegal weapons

5 The Evolution of Organized Crime/Gangs in America ( Albanese, 2004).Therefore, alcohol and guns became a primary source of income for these criminals. As mentioned, these crime organizations are tied to ethnical backgrounds and where there was the Italian Mafia, there were also other organizations such as El Ruknsa primary black organizationswere doing the same things (Ryan, 1995). Eventually, the consumption of alcohol was once again legalized but this did not lead to the end of organized crime. Instead, these organizations began to adapt. The sale of illegal guns did not disappear and even goes into modern times but these organizations have continued to thrive because another outlawed item: drugs. Drugs have been the primary source of income for many years all the way to the present (Kontos & Brotherton, 2008). It is from this the formation of modern day street gangs have formed. These gangs tend to have no respect for human life and their primary goal is to get drugs into the hands of whomever they can. The Response of Law Enforcement Organized crime has been a problem for law enforcement from the time it emerged all the way through current times. At first, local police forces tried to combat the crime but could manage little. Instead, progress began to be better made with the formation of the FBI but even this was a rough start up through the 1950s (Calder, 2008). In order for law enforcement to be successful, they need to collaborate (Russell-einhorn, 2000). What is meant by this is that local and federal law enforcement should work together to better combat these gangs. Part of combating organized crime was recognizing what it was and then determining a solution. Units have been formed to combat the rise of Urban Crimes committed by gangs in addition to forming proper legislation to deal with such crimes (Curry, 2009). These units are not only on a local level but have lead to the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms or ATF

6 The Evolution of Organized Crime/Gangs in America (Russell-einhorn, 2000). These units place themselves very much in harms way to infiltrate these gangs, even going as far as going undercover as part of the gangs. Laws have even been formed offering harsher penalties for people convicted of being involved in organized crimes in comparison to individual crime (Curry, 2009). In the 1980s, programs to fight drugs were also created for the sake of the individuals using them (Russell-einhorn, 2000). The success of such programs then affects the combat of gangs. If these programs are successful and fewer people are buying drugs, than fewer drugs are being sold and less profit is being made by crime organizations. The Results Organized crime is a strong force in the modern day criminal world that will not be resolved overnight. It is a form of crime that has not gone anywhere, and it probably never will. Like many things, organized crime has evolved in order to survive and it will more than likely continue to do so. That said, law enforcement has not taken the matter lightly and has managed to produce results. As mentioned, collaboration is an important aspect in yielding results. This has been a rough road for law enforcement (Russell-einhorn, 2000). This has been accomplished through the progress of the previously mentioned federal programs that were instated to better merge the responsibility of local and federal law enforcement. Part of this is the merging of documentation in order to yield the best results. Through the 1990s and into the 2000s there was a drop in violent crime and this in turn could be attributed to the success of law enforcement in fighting these crimes (Russell-einhorn, 2000). I foresee that this would only continue as law enforcement collaborate more in combating

7 The Evolution of Organized Crime/Gangs in America crime. As the whole process is streamlined and analyzed more, I think crime levels will remain low. I would like to repeat, though, that I dont think organized crime is going anywhere. Despite law enforcement stepping up, I think gangs will continue to evolve. I think technology will be part of this. Technology can help these organizations in addition to offering them yet another product to sell in order to make a profit.

8 The Evolution of Organized Crime/Gangs in America Bibliography

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Calder J, Lynch W. From Apalachin to the Buffalo Project: Obstacles on the path to effective federal responses to organized crime, 19571967. Trends In Organized Crime [serial online]. September 2008;11(3):207-269. Available from: SocINDEX with Full Text, Ipswich, MA. Accessed November 2, 2011.

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