Transnational Organized Crime Summary of a Workshop (1999) / Chapter Skim
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5 Research Agenda
5 Research Agenda
Pages 40-53
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From page 40... ...
A research agenda must address all of these matters: how it should be described and measured, how it affects American society, and what are the means of controlling it. The underlying question is what can the United States do to keep transnational organized crime to a low level.
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From page 41... ...
Many important issues involved in transnational organized crime are more appropriately the subject of investigation rather than research, usually because they involve clas ~A useful source on these matters are the Mexico chapters of the U.S. Department of State's International Narcotics Control Strategy Report.
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From page 42... ...
For example, Jonathan Winer, a senior State Department official, testified that "transnational organized crime threatens America's national security and foreign policy interests in a number of regions of the world, undermining legitimate economies and threatening emerging democracies."2 This is offered as a justification for the leadership role that the State Department has taken in various overseas programmatic activities in this functional area, such as the International Law Enforcement Training Academy in Budapest. An appropriate research task is assessing what forms of transnational organized crime threaten national security and in what ways.
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From page 43... ...
Any regulation offers the opportunity for profitable evasion, but, since treaties often impose lighter restrictions on poorer nations, niches are created for transnational organized crime activities that undermine the agreement. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITE)
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From page 44... ...
However, analysis of changes in drug abuse indicators following three incidents of disruption of foreign drug supplies suggests that the substitution is far from complete; for example, more opiate users sought treatment after the mid-1970s reduction in heroin imports, even though pharmacological substitutes were available from domestic sources (Renter, 19921. Thus the extent to which transnational organized crime increases crime and drug-related mortality and morbidity in the United States should .
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From page 45... ...
Powerful transnational organized crime may substantially exacerbate both illegal border crossings (whether for the purpose of immigration or for more opportunistic criminal activities) and smuggling of goods either prohibited (e.g., protected species)
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From page 46... ...
Most indictments identify a set of specific criminal acts that provide only modest illumination of the underlying organization, although some prosecutors do use the indictment document to reveal much of the relevant evidence. Nevertheless, official, agency-generated records are currently one of the best sources of useful data on transnational crime.
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From page 47... ...
, which may not yield much information about the transnational aspects. The multiplicity of languages used by the varied national groups involved in transnational organized crime also complicates this kind of research.
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From page 48... ...
Contlitions Promoting Transnational Organized Crime What conditions facilitate the development of transnational organized crime? Passas (1998)
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From page 49... ...
Similarly, weak efforts at vehicle identification and theft in Eastern Europe and Latin America facilitate the exporting of stolen cars from Western Europe and the United States. The hypothesis proposed by Passas offers a starting point for study of what facilitates and impedes the growth of transnational organized crime.
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From page 50... ...
Such epidemiological or surveillance measures might support theory development, provide for greater clarity with respect to the goals of enforcement and prevention responses, and lead to more precise outcome measures. Outcome Measures Inasmuch as a program specifically targets transnational organized crime, it will be necessary to develop measures to assess its success beyond the apprehension and sanctioning of the targeted individuals and organizations.
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From page 51... ...
Prevention strategies that operate at a still broader level may be appropriate subjects for research, for example, more strategic policing of immigrant communities focused on preventing criminal groups from developing power over legitimate community institutions. This would need to be done in a way that recognizes the sensitivity of new immigrant communities to discriminatory enforcement, but research building on the frameworks developed in community policing may be helpful.
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From page 52... ...
, a reexamination of all these materials to provide a precise description of the evolution of the bank could help develop hypotheses about transnational organized crime or at least some major elements of it. Interviews with decision makers may well be an important component of such work, as it was for Alison's classic study.
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From page 53... ...
, and transnational organized crime will have to compete with spousal abuse, the deterrent effects of imprisonment, and a dozen other important topics. In the short run, it is important to use available opportunities, particularly as a new area of research does well to establish its bona fides early.
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