What can be done to combat organized crime?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The policy question regarding what we should do about organized crime is predicated on how we conceptualize organized crime. Policy makers must understand the social context in which organized crime occurs, as it is an integral part of the social, political, and economic system.

Policy makers attempting to attack organized crime must meet the demands of the consumers of organized crime's products and services, either by punishing consumers more effectively or by educating them about the dangers of their behavior.

Howard Abadinsky recommends four approaches to the control of organized crime, each involving changes at the policy-making level:

• Increasing the risk of involvement in organized crime by increasing the resources available to law enforcement agencies that are useful in fighting organized crime
• Increasing law enforcement authority so as to increase the risks of involvement in organized crime.
• Reducing the economic lure of involvement in organized crime by making legitimate opportunities more readily available.
• Decreasing organized criminal opportunity through decriminalization or legalization.