Understanding Crime: Analysis of Violent and Property Crimes

In the United States, a violent crime occurs every 25.3 seconds and a property crime occurs every 4 seconds (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2017). Black’s Law Dictionary defines crime as an act that violates a public law, or a breach of some public right to the community (Black’s Law Dictionary). Crimes are generally split into two categories: property crimes and violent crimes. Some examples of property crimes are arson, larceny, burglary, and robbery. Violent crimes include murder, assault, rape, and manslaughter. While crime is often committed by individuals, there are sometimes larger, organized groups of people committing these heinous acts, otherwise known as organized crime groups. When many think of organized crime, the first things

Unfortunately, these criminals are not just fictional characters. Organized crime is a major issue not only in the United States, but around the globe. In recent times, criminal organizations have become increasingly transnational, meaning they are not limited within the borders that they originate in, as a result of the Internet and advances in communication technologies. Crime syndicates like the Yamaguchi-gumi, the Russian mafia, and the Sinaloa Cartel pose immense threats to many nations outside of their own. Evidently, it is important to understand what exactly these criminal organizations are. This paper will attempt to define organized crime, describe the common structures of criminal organizations, and detail efforts made by the federal government to control organized

One of the most significant is the Organized Crime Control Act. It was signed into law by President Richard Nixon in 1970. The main purpose of the Act is to eliminate or weaken organized crime in the United States by creating new procedural rules for witnesses and increasing punishments for crimes such as in arson or bombing cases. Laws against gambling organizations were also included in the Act, which directly targeted organized crime groups. Part of the Act was the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, also known as RICO. RICO is a federal law that allows individuals to be penalized for acts that were done as part of a crime syndicate. The law was revolutionary because it allowed leaders of criminal organizations to be charged for crimes that they did not personally commit, but instead ordered others to do (U.S. Department of Justice, 2016, p. 169). Another significant federal law against organized crime is the Continuing Criminal Enterprise Statute. While the Organized Crime Control Act and RICO focused on various crimes committed by criminal organizations, the CCE Statute specifically targets drug trafficking groups. The statute’s focus is on continued crimes rather than individual events. Also, the CCE Statute targets leadership in criminal organizations, since in order to be convicted, the defendant must have been either an organizer, manager, or