While the policy regulations of states strive to maintain their sovereignty, states have long recognised their interdependence in policing transnational illegal activity (Gerspacher 2009). Transnational crime has long posed a significant obstacle to policing efforts. The extensive effects of globalisation, world political and economic shifts, technological advances, security challenges and the implications of climate change, have all served to influence the crime environment and make the job of policing the community more challenging than ever before (Keelty 2007). According to Hills (2009) there is a widely shared conviction that international police forces must co-operate if they are to respond effectively to the crime and insecurity facilitated by globalisation. Operation Cathedral and the Solomon Islands peacekeeping operation will be explored in order to illustrate the negative and positive consequences of involvement in international policing operations.
According to Sycamnias (1999) international policing is the term used to signify legal interaction and participation on a global scale by a variety of law enforcement bodies, in order to better develop and preserve individual jurisdictional justice systems. International policing operations in effect bestow a new meaning to the phrase the long arm of the law. Under normal conditions, countries only have the power to control activities that occur within their sovereign territorial borders (Sycamnias 1999). International policing enables joint intervention by countries within which crimes have originated or transpired.
According to the United Nations Department of Public Information (2002), at a very simple level transnational criminal groups traffic in human beings, parti...
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...e', International Peacekeeping, vol. 14, no. 5, pp. 569-583.
• United Nations Department of Public Information 2002, Draft United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, visited 10 May 2010, .
• UNODC 2010, United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocols, visited 13 May 2010, .
• Wainwright, E 2003, ‘Responding to state failure—the case of Australia and Solomon Islands’, Australian Journal of International Affair, vol. 57, no. 3, pp. 485-498.
• Wallis, J 2006, ‘A ‘helpem fren’ in need… Evaluating the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands’, Security Challenges, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 81-98.
• Williams, P, 2002, Organized Crime and Cyber-Crime: Implications for Business, Carnegie, Mellon University
Globalization can be defined as the “development of an increasingly integrated global economy marked especially by free-trade, free flow of capital, and the tapping of cheaper foreign labor markets that transcend nation-state boundaries”. As the world becomes a more integrated society we are more readily able to share goods, services, ideas, and technology. Furthermore, we are able to move more freely between nations. With this freedom there comes prosperity for people, companies and entire countries as we can now gain access to things we never had before. But as we expand our ideas and make it easier to cross borders, those with malicious and deceptive intentions are slipping through and committing heinous crimes that all too often go unnoticed.
U.S. President’s Commission on Organized Crime. The Impact: Organized Crime Today: Report to the President and the Attorney General. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1986.
Human trafficking has been entwined into the structure of governments, arms trade, drug trade, and even spreads as far as terrorism. For many years it has been a fact that the money that has been made by selling other humans to the highest bidder. It is also known that the organized crime operations generate one of the most profitable resources to the organization. These organizations use this money for theirs or other’s crime and end up in the hands of drug lords. Drug lords, in order to promote their own business give money to support terrorist groups and activities. Security after September 11, 2001 has recognized human trafficking as a national and international security risk.
The problem of transnational criminal organization poses some unique challenges to the law enforcement community. The scope of these organizations’ activities and personnel creates exponentially more work for law enforcement than relatively isolated or contained criminal acts by individuals or small groups. Random and personal crimes committed by individuals can usually be handled by police at the local level, as the investigation is limited to the known crime (or crimes) that have been committed and reported. In these cases, identifying and apprehending the perpetrator is possible through investigation of the evidence of the specific instance of crime. This is not the case with large criminal organizations. The scale of criminal activity committed by transnational criminal enterprises dwarfs those committed by lone “local” offenders. Organized criminal enterprises have a pattern of wide-scale criminal activity on a daily basis that involves the participation of many individuals. Transnational criminal organization are somewhat like the mythological nine-header Hydra – when one of its heads was cut off, it would quickly grow back. So, in order to any impact on the organizations as a whole, law enforcement must target their leadership and coordinate their arrests. To achieve this end, law enforcement must work meticulously to identify the entire scope of the criminal enterprise’s operations and map of it organization – identifying key personnel and associates. Not only that, but in the course of this intelligence gathering, law enforcement must also gather credible evidence that will help bring about a conviction in court. A main analytical technique that can be used against transnational criminal organization is network ...
Drug trafficking and terrorism are illegal clandestine activities with strong national security and law enforcement threat components and operational similarities. Terrorists like drug traffickers, need weapons and engage in violence to achieve goals. Terrorists, like drug traffickers, are often involved in hiding and laundering sources of funds. Both terrorists and drug traffickers operate transnationally, and often get logistical and operational support from local ethnic satellite communities. Both groups often rely on the criminal community for support: they may need smuggled weapons, forged documents and safe houses to operate effectively. Finally, both groups need a steady cash flow to operate. In the case of terrorists, where state sources of funding are rapidly diminishing, drug trafficking is an attractive funding option. Increasingly, terrorist organizations are looking to criminal activity and specifically the drug trade as a source of funding. The FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces, a guerilla force) in Colombia are but one of many cases in point.
The crime and conflict nexus exist and its existence matters because it affects the utility of both organizations making them more lethal. This increase in lethality has a negative affect an international security making it very important. With that, there are still ways in which law enforcement and policy makers can combat this nexus.
In today’s society, where there is political and civil instability in the nations of the world, many citizens become subject to human trafficking. Human trafficking has rapidly grown into a transnational issue. Transnational crimes are often a result of an organized criminal group. These criminal groups quickly exploit the citizens of an unstable country and will send them to other countries while using upgraded technology and the rise of global trade to their advantage. Aside from human trafficking, it also can involve the movement of firearms, vehicles, drugs, or human body parts. Many believe that human trafficking is slavery of the modern-day. Many nations have come together to work on ways to prevent and protect those subject to trafficking.
Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, 15 November 2000, available at: http://www.osce.org/odihr/19223
As we can see, the system of Law Enforcement is formed over many centuries of history, starting as a horse guard and Rangers to modern police departments, agencies and states, performing a variety of functions and meeting the requirements of each time period. Comprehensive study of the evolution of foreign police forces is relevant and has a scientific significance; there may be a promising area of historical and legal research. Analysis of state-legal laws of development of the Law Enforcement system of different countries represent an important step in this direction.
In the Unites States of America, many organizations such as CATW, Freedom Network, and IOFA combat human trafficking or aid in the campaign against human trafficking (United States par. 4-5, 9). Sweden has the Kvinnofrid, which is a law that handles human trafficking well since it contains fierce regulations and punishments for going against the law (Jesionka par. 17). This law although effective only affects the country and not the global pandemic. By working together, countries can launch attacks even while the ring is in another country. Next, as many people know not all countries see eye to eye on certain topics but with the interagency task forces not only do countries get to work together to severely cripple human trafficking, but bonds of trust form eliminating, if any,
According to estimates, more than 700,000 people are trafficked every year for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labour. They are transported across borders and sold into modern-day slavery. Over the past decade, trafficking in human beings has reached epidemic proportions. No country is immune. Clawson (2009) discusses how the search for work abroad has been fueled by economic disparity, high unemployment and disruption of traditional livelihoods. It recognizes neither boundaries nor borders. Consequently profits from trafficking feed into the casket of organized crime. Trafficking is fueled by other criminal activities such as document fraud, money laundering and migrant smuggling. Because trafficking cases are expansive in reach, they are among the most important matters. (Clawson 2009)
The International Criminal Court’s Roman Statue has many problems but has still managed to gain enough support to act as an international law making body. The International Criminal Court has obtained the support of over a hundred nations, but the unwillingness of the United States to join could jeopardize the effectiveness of the Court. The foundation of the International Criminal Court is set up in the Roman Statue, which was drafted by many countries at a conference in Rome. The Statue states what crimes the Court has jurisdiction over and it explains the structure of the Court. The Statue illustrates that the main goal of the International Criminal Court is to prosecute the most serious international crimes. It is questionable whether the Court is achieving this goal. The Roman Statue restricts the International Criminal Court from prosecuting many crimes because the Court has a strict time frame of when crimes can be tried and limits the amount of countries under its jurisdiction. The United States does not support the content of the Statue and has taken actions to omit themselves from its jurisdiction. These actions could stop the Court from successfully accomplishing their goal. The International Criminal Court is not an effective international organization because of the language of the Roman Statue and its inability to gain essential participation of the most influential nation in the world, the United States, who fears being prosecuted and cannot accept lack of control.
In December of 2003, the United Nations made human trafficking a crime in over 110 countries. However participating countries have not effectively enforced the ruling or fail to deliver sanctions. Very few criminals are convicted, victims do not receive the help that they need, and some victims are even convicted of other crimes such as illegal entry.
This is not to say the global mechanisms such as the Interpol and their Pink Panther’s project are without fault or criticism. In fact, one must also acknowledge their problems and limitations in order to develop a better framework to combat such organizations. For instance, the resources available in each jurisdiction
With the world changing and advancing with technology, criminal organizations are taking advantage of new opportunities. The advancement of travel, ease of communication, and an increase in demand, has all contributed to the globalization of crime. Every nation has been affected by the globalization of crime and the problem continues to grow.