Organised+Crime+and+the+Criminal+Justice+System

How does the criminal justice system respond to ONE of the forms of crime addressed in the last part of the unit? What are the strengths and weaknesses of this response? (Crimes addressed later in the unit are: white collar and corporate crime, organised crime, illicit drugs, and violence).

Organised crime is costing Australia in excess of $10 billion a year and includes offences such as money laundering; drugs; trafficking; fraud; counterfeit crimes; firearm offences and the ever expanding digital crime. In response to the ongoing battle against organised crime the criminal justice system has implemented strategies to try to reduce the cost and effect that organised crime has on Australia (Australian Crime Commission, 2009). The criminal justice system is in place is to deal with unsavoury behaviour that threatens citizens and this essay will focus on the problems that both national and international syndicates place on Australias economy and crime trends and how the criminal justice system responds to this will be analysed.

Organised crime has been defined as “as crime committed in an organised and systematic manner by a number of persons in an ongoing association or group whose primary motivation for association is to gain profit and/or influence” (Victorian Police, 2007). The general public are fascinated by the idea of organised crime, thanks in part to shows and movies such as the Sopranos and the Godfather. These shows can give people an unrealistic and at times romanticised look at organised crime and it can be difficult for some people to distinguish between fantasy and fact when it comes to this. It has only been in the recent 4 decades that organised crime has become the focus of criminological studies (Albanese, 2011). In Australia, the underbelly phenomenon has glamorised organised crime, and made it appear cool to young impressionable viewers, according to NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione, who believes these types of shows and movies and the games that often follows them give youth the impression that ‘crime pays’ and that indulging in such crimes often has no ramifications (Tabakoff, 2010).

The origin of organised crime can be traced back to piracy, not the prohibition era of the 1920’s as many people believe. Piracy started back in the colonial period where English rulers would hire people to attack the Spanish ships in order to protect the American colonies. After a period of time, realising the financial opportunities available these privateers began to attack other ships and sell the goods to colonists heavily discounted in a similar way to how stolen goods are sold these days. The charactristics of piracy- also known as privateering- and modern organised crime are quite similar in terms of heirachy, violence, criminal behaviours that resulted in profit and especially corruption, and piracy can definitely be considered as the start of organised crime. Organised crime has evolved over the years to include drugs, computer crime and live trafficking and it continues to change and evolve as the world changes in order to attempt to stay one step ahead of the authorities(Mallory, 2007).

The criminal justice system attempts to protect citizens by forming specialised task forces such as the Organised Crime Response Plan (OCRP) that the Australian government has brought into force to tackle the problems that organised crime brings on society. The purpose of the OCRP is to respond to and aims to prevent the consequences of ongoing organised crime activities. The OCRP has found that there is a high treat to Australians in relation to organised crime. The three largest threats that face society at the present are money laundering, the production and supply of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) and identity theft. This task force continues to evaluate current strategies and puts forth new legislations and ideas and shares resources throughout state and national wide government and policing communities to try to stop these crimes (Australian Governemnt, 2010). Organised crime is also responded to at a state level,