The Organized Crime - Report Example

HOW THE UK ITIES VIEW ORGANIZED CRIME AND WHAT THEY DO THEY DO ABOUT IT By 11th, December, Introduction In Europe, organized crime is a major problem. Although there is no specific definition of organized crime, it entails a crime committed by a group of three or more individuals. The lack of a specific definition for organized crime makes it hard to estimate the scale of organized crime. However, there certain aspects that characterize organized crime. These aspects are used in measuring the levels of organized crime across the globe. Organized crime involves plans to control or use certain resources. In most cases, crimes committed by organized crime groups have great potential in causing financial harm. Moreover, organized crimes often involve corruption, coercion, and violence. As opposed to many academicians who feel that organized crime does not exist, UK authorities acknowledge the existence of organized crime. Organized crime poses a great threat to individuals, communities, business, and the entire Unite Kingdom economy. Moreover, billions of Euros are being used in dealing with organized crime, which is a great economic cost. U.K authorities approximate that more than 38,000 organized criminals are currently operating within or outside UK and affecting the UK. Moreover, UK authorities argue that approximately 6,000 organized crime groups have been perpetrating crimes against UK, either directly or indirectly. This essay focuses on how the UK authorities view organized crime and what they do about it. How the UK Authorities View Organized Crime In UK, organized crime is viewed with suspicion since it affects all communities. Moreover, crimes committed result in activities that ruin several lives in addition to instilling fear to the members of the community. In some cases, organized crimes have resulted in collapse of legitimate businesses. Although there is no clear definition of organized crime, UK authorities consider organized crime to include crimes such as drug trafficking, human trafficking, People smuggling, money laundering, vehicle crime, firearms, armed robbery, identity crimes, intellectual property crime, kidnaping for extortion and counterfeit currency trends. Most of the above crimes are a serious threat in UK. Although some are rare, they still pose considerable threat to the public as well as national security (SOCA 2012). UK authorities considered organized crime groups to be closely related to terrorist. In most cases, funds obtained through organized crime activities are used for terrorist activities. Moreover, some organized crime groups engage in ruthless actions as they attempt to obtain money forcefully or in their efforts to achieve their goals. In most cases, they have to engage in violence since their activities are unlawful and they at times conflict with law enforcers (Beken 2004; Edwards & Levi 2008). Therefore, U.K authorities often consider organized crime groups a major threat to the national security. As opposed to other forms of crime that have fewer effects, organized crimes have serious effects, which are felt on daily basis. Furthermore, almost everybody within and even outside UK) feels the effects (Fijnaut & Paoli 2005). Research by Scottish Serious Organized Crime Group (SOCG) showed that organized is rampant within United Crime. SOCG was formed in April 2008 to assess the level of threat that organized crime groups pose to the Scotland. Moreover, the research findings suggested that serious organized crimes are often misunderstood but their effects are far reaching and often devastating. Moreover, the concealed nature of the crimes make it hard for law enforcers to track the crimes and prevent them early resulting in wide range of costs that could be social or economic. However, the report showed that understanding on the nature of threat possessed by organized crime groups is still lacking. Moreover, the ability of law enforcers and government to combat organized crimes is lacking. This is because serious organized crimes are often invisible and some organized crime groups are unknown to the authorities (Beken 2004). United Kingdom Threat Assessment (UKTA), which is an assessment of threats posed by organized crimes in UK, showed that most organized crime groups engage in money laundering. Although most organized crime groups specialize in certain crime activities, they are opportunistic and often engage in other forms of crimes outside their specialism. Moreover, crime groups that are well established often focus in more than one type of crime. UKTA categorized organized crimes depending on the kind of threats they pose to the community, individuals, and business world. The research showed that most crime groups are entrepreneurial in nature and often engage in criminal trade (Sproat, 2012). Measures taken by UK authorities to Deal with Organized Crimes UK authority view organized crime groups with great scrutiny. In 2011, a scheme called Local to global: reducing the risk from organized crime. The scheme aims at uniting all authorities that deal with organized crime for creation of National Crime Agency (NCA). This will enhance the efforts of combating crime since NCA will be required to strategize ways of fighting crime. This example demonstrates the seriousness of UK authorities in battling organized crime. Other agencies that are required to expand their organized crime combating stratagems include Serious Organized Crime Agency, UK Border Agency, HM Revenue and Customs, as well as other intelligence agencies. The enhancement will be facilitated increased coordination and cooperation between the different authorities (Fijnaut & Paoli 2005; SOCA 2012; Sproat, 2012; Carrabine 2009). Still other agencies are involved in combating organized crime in UK. These authorities include Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (ACDEA), Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS), Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the Serious Organized Crime Agency (SOCA) and the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) (The Scottish Government 2012). These agencies operate within UK and Scotland. Irrespective of these numerous authorities involved in combating of organized crimes, the number of organized crimes remains high within UK (Sproat, 2012). The Taskforce, that is entitled with assessing the level of organized crimes within UK found out that crimes such as smuggling of fake goods and drug trafficking remain high. Moreover, the smuggled goods continue to be sold as legitimate goods within Scotland and other regions of UK (HM Revenue & Customs 2012; Scottish Serious Orgnized Crime Group 2012; The Scottish Government 2012). UK authorities dealing with organized crime agree that globalization has resulted in complexity of the nature of organized crimes. This is because organized crime groups are currently formed across nations making it harder for UK authorities to track and deal with the criminals. Moreover, some organized crime groups operate from outside UK but their actions affect people and businesses within the UK. Therefore, there is need for cooperation of authorities from different countries to aid in deterring perpetration of organized crimes (Home Office 2012). Moreover, the authorities are focusing on ways of elimination opportunities for establishment of organized crime. Moreover, UK authorities are working towards strengthening the enforcements pertaining to organized crime with the aim of safeguarding the communities, businesses and the entire state. Moreover, the authorities are establishing ways of involving the communities in combating organized crime. This is because the authorities believe that the communities are capable of playing a greater role in revealing the existing organized crime groups and preventing establishment of other crime groups (Home Office 2012; Levi 2007). The UK authorities have also focused on combating money laundering, which is another common form of organized crime. The Money Laundering Regulations requires certain businesses within the UK to implement control systems to avert money laundering and prevent use of money illegitimately obtained money from being used in funding terrorist activities. Moreover, business owners are required to report activities such as transactions that may appear suspicious to them. Moreover, regulatory authorities have heightened their regulatory activities with the aim of combating money laundering. Registration of businesses with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is one of the ways that the UK authorities are using to eliminate money-laundering activities (HM Revenue & Customs 2012; Home Office 2012). Conclusion Organized crime has roused considerable attention across the Globe. In UK, organized crime is viewed with a lot of suspicion due to the impacts it has had on individuals, national economy, and businesses. Moreover, the cost of dealing with organized crime is quite high. However, the UK authorities have formed various authorities to aid in assessment and control of organized crimes. Although UK authorizes, especially the law enforcers have paid great attention to organized crime groups, there is insufficient information on how organized crime groups operate. This is because the crime groups often conceal their activities making it hard for law enforcers to detect them. Moreover, some organized crime groups operate across nations. The UK authorities have put in place different measures of combating organized crimes. Such measures include regulation of business by the regulatory agencies to prevent money laundering. Moreover, different authorities have increased their scrutiny on businesses to ensure that they are legitimate. Works Cited Levi, M 2007, Organized Crime and Terrorism in M Maguire et al (Eds). The Oxford Handbook of Criminology, Oxford University Press, London, pp771-809. Carrabine, E 2009, Criminology: A sociological introduction, Routledge, London, pp.185- 205. Beken, T 2004, Measuring Organised Crime in Europe: A Feasibility Study of a Risk-Based Methodology Across the European Union, 2 ed. Maklu, London. Edwards, A & Levi, M 2008, Researching the organization of serious crimes, Criminology and Criminal Justice , 8(4), pp. 363-388. Fijnaut, C & Paoli, L 2005, Organised Crime in Europe: Concepts, Patterns and Control Policies in the European Union and Beyond, Springer, London. HM Revenue & Customs 2012, Introduction to the Money Laundering Regulation, Accessed 11 December 2012, Read More