Policy Development Paper

Posted: August 15th, 2013

 Policy Development Paper

            Organized crime occurs when a group of people organized and structured in a hierarchical basis in a number of levels continually engage and participate in illegal activities, either directly or indirectly in order to secure power and make profits by participating in both legal and illegal activities(Allum & Siebert 24, 2003). Organized crime has led to an increase in the level of prostitution, illegal gambling and interstate theft. Driven by the need to make profits, organized crime targets the lucrative illegal drugs and prostitution business. This has resulted to a massive increase in the same among other negativities. Organized crime has been observed along ethnic and geographical lines. This has led to the establishment of a policy to help minimize organic crime levels in the country.

In the past, a number of legislations have been put up to curtail organized crime. This was been driven by the need to minimize the occurrence of illegal activities. For instance, in 1984, it was estimated that organized crime took in about $20 billion annually half of which was from the sale of narcotics. Organized crime is now five times the value in 1984. This results to reduced government revenue. There have been calls from the public for the government to establish stiffer measures to fight organized crime.

This policy has a number of approaches it aims to use in the fight of organized crime. It aims to fight crime by altering and tightening the relations between the media and the police. This will involve opening organized crime cases and issues to the media for scrutiny. It aims at involving the media in the solving the cases to help minimize the frenzy media coverage that surrounds arrests made in organized crime. Involvement of the media will also help provide critical information necessary for the execution of the cases and research on organized crime. The policy also aims at minimizing the levels of corruption in the police force and various bodies involved in the fight of organized crime. The policy is also focused on dealing with management issues in the various government and police departments.

The policy will help ensure that there is an informed public on organized crime issues. It will facilitate collaboration with the media to facilitate public discussions, to help uncover the organized crime rhetoric. Research shows that there has been reduction in organized crime where there is constant interaction between the police and the media. The policy requires that police channel their information to the media in an appropriate and useful way for distribution to the public. The policy also involves emphasizing on morale and accountability issues. This is meant to help reduce the levels of corruption. It is common knowledge in the political as well as public arena that the increase in corruption levels both in the police force and in government departments has led to the increase in the level of organized crimes in the country. Calls for accountability in government agencies such as Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Customs, Alcohol, Tax and Firearms (ATF), DEA will help will help abolish the negative police culture that has been encouraging organized crime (Mallory 45, 2007).

This policy will help ensure that government and police activities are closely scrutinized to minimize organized crime. The policy aims at enlisting the participation of community in the fight against organized crimes. It also ensures that the deployment of law enforcers is properly executed. There has been an increase in the levels of sophistication of organized crime hence the need for skilled and trained police officers. In addition, collaborating with the media will go a long way in the fight against crime. For instance, coverage of busts by the media helps to motivate the officers and deter organized crime. Establishment of a powerful Organized Crime Commission and Independent Corruption Commission to overlook the fight against organized crime. All this will help ensure that there is significant reduction in organized crime levels in the country.