The Importance of US Security Agencies Fighting Against the Organized Crimes

Abstract

The evolution of the human race over the years has transcribed into a new state of defiance and has urged to rejuvenate of the security protocols to ensure that any and every type of lawlessness is dealt. Terrorism has shunned the world. Almost every progressing country has faced the brunt of terrorism. These hideous acts have not only hindered the progression of the targeted countries but have caused significant loss of precious human lives. The US has been the superpower for many years due to the achieved goals in the fields of advancement and technology and has been taken as a sign of high reliance on other nations in need. The state-level crimes were targeting innocent Americans and had been damaging the state’s asset. The law enforcement agencies had always taken the grip over the situation and were able to pin down the criminals before further damage.

The attack of 9/11 has completely shifted the paradigm for the severity evaluation of a terrorist attack. The US law enforcement agencies and people were never ready for anything on this massive scale. The US Airways and the radar system was considered the safest and the most reliable one through which not any element can cross without identification and alerting the radar that any illegal activity is about to be executed. However, the terrorists were capable enough of generating new methods of entering the US soil and targeting the most valuable asset to prove that even the superpower on which the world is relying for its safety is not safe from terrorism. Thus, this began the new era of experiencing and expecting any terrorist attacks, and the law enforcement agencies needed to plan counter-terrorism strategies (Albanese, 2016). However, after the incident of 9/11, the US law enforcement agencies were prepared to handle the foreign insurgency.

As technology is improving the means of communication and planning for terrorist activities have been evolving. Thus, the more the terrorist elements are gaining strength to the equipment and means of spreading more terror through such level which is not anticipated urges the government security agencies to spend more time in developing the counter-terrorism activities which may cater to every possible scenario and could present the best solution. Thus, with improved security and preparedness, external attacks could be knocked out through intelligence sources. However, the ongoing internal crimes which could be stated under the umbrella of organized crimes could bring down the progressing scale of the country. The increase in organized crime shows that there is lawlessness anticipated within the country which is capable of posing a threat to the safety and the security of people.

Thus, the organized crimes and crimes unit within the country if not stopped or eliminated may facilitate the external terrorist elements to incarcerate on US soil. Thus, the elimination of the established and growing crimes shall be focused currently by US law enforcement agencies (Cowan, 2015). To fight the counter-terrorism activities, the US agencies have the support of NATO, however, dealing with internal issues and regulating the law within the country relies on the effective strategies planned and implemented by US security agencies.

Thus this paper focuses on highlighting the importance of US security agencies fighting against organized crimes. If the miscreants and the criminal activities are prevented by adopting the latest technology, there are chances that it may help the companies to control a larger amount of area within a shorter time and will lead the criminals to either give up on their harmful activities or be caught by the state departments.

Thus for dealing with internationalized crime and suspected criminals, a vast scale of useful intelligence assets and the equipment for keeping an eye on every corner. Whenever a fishy act is identified shall there and then be notified, and enough human resources shall be available and trained for dealing with the miscreants there and then. When the US law enforcement agencies will be able to establish their grounds against these miscreants and the organized crimes within their jurisdiction, there are prominent chances that the international terrorist attacks will be restricted or even eliminated from happening (Coyne & Bell, 2011).

Introduction

The prominent feature of the US legal system which makes it unique yet powerful is its discrete implementation of law enforcement. Police activities and criminal justice with some overlap in competencies are offered by the numerous government agencies registered with the government for protection of the US soil. The agencies could be further divided into local, state, and federal levels. The US code for handling the safety of the country is evident, there is no single policy that is responsible for the security of the state asset, but many agencies are working openly or under cover following the US code of the State department. The inner environment is the first-hand priority of the state agencies. If it is in the perfect state, this means that a clear message is designated to the outer world that US soil is not an easy target.

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Fig-1: International Organized Crimes

Combating Organized Crime

Organized crime was not the term registered with law enforcement agencies till the 1900s. However, in the prohibition era, for the first time, this condition was presented by criminology research that if this upcoming issue is not handled with a strict response on time, there are chances that the state might be facing lawlessness and civil war. During the prohibition time, the state was formulating new laws, and meanwhile Chinese, Japanese, Russian and Italian Mafia were growing and gaining strength on US soil. However, since 1960 these crimes were addressed on a legal basis. Thus, organized crimes became the focus of the state for eliminating them to ensure a drug and corruption-free environment (Davis, 2012).

The prominent laws approved during these times were the 1970 Organized Crime Control Act, 1968 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act, Witness Security Program, and RICO Act. Though, September 11, 2001, attacks changed the structure for controlling crime. Thus, law enforcement agencies began planning counter-terrorist activities, and the entire focus from organized crimes was shifted to counter-terrorist activities.

Thus, this change in focus was taken as an opportunity for the organized crime units and was considered to be detrimental to the efforts for this long. However, in recent years, the focus has again shifted to organized crimes because the US does not expect that the international terror attack could be countered on what grounds. But the policymakers realized that it is high time that organized crimes are focused on again. In the beginning, organized crimes have hierarchical structures and it was easy to identify the head of the unit, and targeting the hierarchy would lead to each piece in the cartel. However, with time the working style of these cartels has improved, and despite working in the regime, they prefer working independently. Thus, more group with a refined working style which is not convenient to catch has come into play over the years (Garoupa, 2015).

The four priority areas for combating organized crimes are focused by the law enforcement agencies through which, I believe, the US policy for safety is developed may help to improve the homeland security against organized crimes. The priority areas are listed below:

Intelligence and Marshal Information

The collection of authenticated information, synthesizing the relevant data from it, and disseminating it as soon as possible for ensuring that the information is being received by the required authorities and is manipulated timely for useful results. Thus, cooperation is expected among the intelligence community, law enforcement, private sector, and foreign partners for identifying any potential threats and developing an immediate counterattack there and then.

Prioritize and Target the Most Significant internal Threats

The appropriate law enforcement plan has to be drawn up according to the targeted crime and the organizations which could be the biggest threats to the safety of US soil. Thus, it is to be ensured that the prosecutions and investigations involving the targets shall be fair and on-point.

Countering from All Angles

Every available law enforcement tool and non-law enforcement tool shall work together employing their expertise so that the crime could be analyzed from every angle and perspective. It becomes easier to judge the source of the offense and to formulate policies that how the particular crime could be handled in the future (Giuliani, 2014).

Enterprise Theory

The law enforcement agencies shall adopt aggressive strategies for dealing with the cartels and especially their leadership. Detailed and thorough investigating leading to prosecution shall be subjected to longer sentences to ensure that they are being set as an example. The prosecutions shall be multi-layered so that all their crimes come under one section and the punishment is decided accordingly.

International Organized Crime

Terrorist groups participating in criminal activities on different grounds are categorized as international organized crime. As stated earlier the participating rather prominent terrorist groups emerging from Italy, Russia, and China were causing significant damage to the peace and prosperity of the US nation. Drug abuse and corruption were at their peak when these groups came from other lands in search of power, and commercial and monetary gains. These groups were usually protecting illegal activities by handling corruption and threatening people (Lombardo, 2013).

Thus, the international organized criminal units collaborating with the locally organized crime groups can pose new threats to the safety of society. Thus, coming from other lands, they do not develop a hierarchy rather they work as networks, units, and cells. When one of the links is identified that link is destroyed until any law enforcement agency reaches out to it. Thus, it is now important for law enforcement agencies to develop the laws accordingly so that they can deal with the local and international organized crime units on the same scale.

Thus, the pattern identified through the research of the previous workings of the criminal units tells about their future work structure. Though not a definite plan could be deterred the possible recognizable characteristics are as follows:

• The major activities of their activity involve the execution or signs of violence in them, or if they are not committing violence, they are posing a threat to people’s lives.
• The ideological differences are exploited for their purpose, and they may not let it highlight among other clans so that they might not get in the limelight.
• These groups influence the government, commerce, and political department through corruption and bribery, and if not then they may use any means to threaten them for achieving their aims.
• The primary purpose of such a group is to gain economic benefit. These units do invest in legitimate businesses so that their money trail could not be traced through a simpler prosecution.

The organizational structure is deep, and they ensure that their hierarchical structure and data are concealed under false facts so that regarding any prosecution it is undetectable.

Thus, the organized crime units if exhibiting such activities could be searched for further clues. It is important to know who is funding them. There are chances that the locally organized crime units may be supported by external crime groups (Ott, 2010).

Strategies Addressing Organized Crime

The strategic threats posed by these groups are identified and prosecuted under the 2008 Law Enforcement Strategy to Combat International Organized Crime. Thus, the pinhole for infiltrating the system is the economic plateau. Cyberspace is used for targeting the US infrastructure and is considered as a threat to the US and international financial system. The breakthrough for these international crime units is to use the power of monetary benefits and to bribe anyone considering the importance of the designation and get the work done. So law enforcement agencies are not only focusing on the criminals of street fights but the dangerous ones as they are uneasy to be identified but are spreading their wings within the system.

The law for National Security Strategy was passed in 2010 considering that organized crime units to be a more significant threat to national security than counter-terrorism. Thus, it was focused while passing this law that transnational crime has grown over the years in scope, size, and operational scale.

Thus, the terrorist using the criminal networks to get the facilitation logistics thus demands that multi-dimensional and upgraded strategies are required for fighting against organized crimes within the US. Due to this, a new law Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime was passed in 2011. The motto of this law was That American power has to be organized on one scale for maintaining the balance of power within the state and ensuring that the sole power lies with the state to fight against organized or transnational crimes. These crimes will be considered a threat to national security, and the allies will be found to cooperate in combating them on local and international grounds for the elimination of organized crimes.

Fig-2: Reduction of Violent Crimes

Thus, the ultimate proposed policy for handling the solution appropriately and ensuring that the organized crime units whether they are operating on the local grounds or are infiltrating from the international fields shall be identified and repulsed through aggressive action. For this, increasing the number of security departments for keeping an eye on the incoming threats and devising a proper plan so that the criminals are prosecuted and sentenced. The breaking of the chain of command in organized crime and getting to know the network will help the homeland security department for keeping an eye on the situation.

It is identified through the research that there is no centralized unit for dealing with organized crimes. Even the law of 2011 “Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime” didn’t define any centralized unit for dealing with organized crimes. There have been many agencies working on their own for dealing with the situation, but the influence of the cartels through bribery and corruption had lowered the performance and determination of the law enforcement workforce. However, developing strict rules to deal with people who are facilitating the organized crime units will be treated through strict laws and they may have to face a life sentence due to committing of a wrongful deed. The departments involved in dealing the organized crimes and their responsibilities are stated as below (Paakkonen, 2015):

Department of Justice

The department of justice is headed by the Attorney General. The appointment for leading the department of justice is assigned to the Federal Government’s chief law enforcement officer. Thus, the federal general is responsible for the implementation of anti-drug laws and federal criminal law enforcement activities. Thus, the tackling of organized crimes and the prosecution structure comes under this appointment.

The Attorney General has Organized Crime Council naming organized crime Council since 1970. The primary focus of this department is to formulate policies and combat crime against organized crime. For the first time in 2008, the organized crime Council was asked to look into organized crimes and offer a suggestion to the National Security Council. Thus, this collaboration was finalized to have an inter-agency intelligence sharing to ensure that the authenticated and relevant information is passed to the designated departments.

Organized Crime and Gang Section

The organized crime Council is further subdivided into a sub-section “Organized Crime and Gang Section.” This department is the one focusing on the crime unit of the organized crime Council and implements the RICO’s prosecution against organized crimes and brings them to justice. All the proposed federal prosecutions are observed carefully by the organized crime council, and they can offer recommendations and suggestions to the investigators or the board for better digging into the issue and highlighting all the relevant crimes. If the proposition and investigation hit the right target, there are chances that the entire network could be exposed (Schouten & Brennan, 2016).

Federal Bureau of Investigation

FBI is the biggest and most important department of the administration of justice and the Federal Government. Though the FBI has 60 international offices with a workforce of 36000 people, there is a huge responsibility that falls on the department for the reason that whenever it comes to dealing with local organized crimes or the international threats posed by the security of the state falls under the duty of the FBI. Thus, this department was primarily strengthened after the attack of 9/11. The increase in the budget by $8.12 billion in 2012 then to $3.81 billion in 2001 and the growth in the workforce has increased the operational capacity of this department. Every crime could be possibly investigated by the FBI. The department has an excessive network and may have more authenticated information regarding the organized crime units operating on US soil.

The Transnational Criminal Enterprise unit of the FBI is divided into three sub-department with the focus of their mission. The information generated by these departments shall be reported back to the FBI and then further to the Department of Justice so that all the series of events and information are recorded through first-hand investigation, and there is no probability of any discrepancy (Skoblikov, 2015).

• The Italian organized crimes are handled through ‘Cosa Nostra.’ All the information regarding the operational capacity of the ongoing criminal activities executed by the Italian gang section is reported by this unit.
• Middle Eastern or a Eurasian crime is handled by a separate unit.
• The Asian and African criminal activities are further assessed, evaluated, and identified by a separate unit.

The information gathered by these three groups is reported back to the FBI which further plans the action to be executed for taking out the entire criminal racket.

Drug Enforcement Administration

The US federal been facing drug abuse for a long, and the intensity has grown to the scale that the government has to approve new laws that no teenagers under the age of 18 years will be able to consume and avail of any drugs. This law was passed in the 1970s and a department “Drug Enforcement Administration” for keeping an eye on the efficient execution of the law was put into implementation. For a few years, the law that no teenager under the age of 18 years will be able to have any access to the drug was implemented, however, the involvement of drug cartels started proving drugs through other means which was more harmful to the youth. Thus, the law was canceled, and it was considered a better approach that the drugs shall be offered through legitimate sources but other measures like driving on highways and involvement of an addicted person shall be restricted. Thus, the security department was ensuring that no illegal drugs are being supplied to people from unregistered sources as well as the individuals who are taking drugs shall be registered with the healthcare department so that a check on health could be maintained (Small & Taylor, 2006).

Thus, the controlled substances and the availability of drugs on the streets come under the drug enforcement administration. The information gathered shall be shared immediately if any foreign element is observed selling drugs commonly other than the registered sources. The primary focus of this department is to share all the available Intel regarding drugs with authorized agencies. The DEA agency is permitted to have a strict check on any foreign involvement of narcotics brought into the US state. If any lead is identified, this department without any influence shares the details with the designated authorities. Even the use of drugs like ‘Cannabis’ is restricted by local and state agencies.

Fig-3: Drug Abuse in 1970

Department of Homeland Security

The department of homeland security was brought into function after the incident of 9/11. The primary focus of this department is to prevent the happening of the attacks like September 11 and any other similar attacks. Also, homeland security is to be called for handling any man-made disasters. The core mission statement of these departments is:

• Securing and managing US borders
• Enhancing security and preventing terrorism
• Upgrading security of Cyberspace
• Enforcement of immigration laws
• In case of disaster, the first respondents shall be the homeland security

Department of State

The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs has a significant contribution to the enforcement functions and intelligence departments. Money laundering and other financial crimes which may lead to involvement in other crimes like drug and human trafficking are monitored so that when any excess amount of unauthorized funds are identified are immediately reported to the higher authority so that the criminals are unable to prosper within the US jurisdiction successfully. The financial action task force helps the department of justice to provide proof of the working of these international cartels, and it could be a substantial verdict for prosecution and jail time (Veklenko & Neshataev, 2017).

Fundamental Understanding and Response to International Organized Crime

Thus, the importance of the departments and the need of centralizing them under one department of justice shows that if the working and sharing of intelligence is processed in one unit may avoid the loopholes for bringing the organized crime groups to justice. Thus, the government shall be focusing more on dealing with the organized crime groups after consideration of the following listed probably posed threats to the US solidarity and progress:

1. It is not necessary that the international organized crime units have to proceed directly on US soil. The advancement of technology and new fields has made it much easier to operate offshore. The miscreants may find a way to generate contacts with the organized units operating on US soil and sharing the ideological differences with the government may convince them to work on the motive of the international crime organization. There are some countries in which the citizens may not be accessed for any prosecutions. Thus, the contact between the organized crime units within and outside the US jurisdiction may be harmful to the safety of the state.
2. The international organized crimes can target corrupt officials, businessmen, and leaders of other organized crime groups to work in their favor. Thus, it is harmful to the fact that if these three elements develop an alliance, there are chances that they may develop a systematic link for not coming into the eyes of the law (Vigna, 2015).
3. Though, the efforts of the departments proposed to be working under the department of justice have eliminated or reduced the organized crimes to occur on the street. However, the international crime units have many funds available at their disposal, and they have the power of making their money to be legitimate and legal. Thus, if the money is proven to be clean, it can be invested in the stream which will then run in every channel and will help the organized crime units access the inner investment system of the US. It is alarming because it will assist them to bribe or corrupt the entire system.
4. The organized units have evolved over the years. They are not even working in the hierarchal structure or the form of a network. Every time they operate in a different manner, for which the security departments shall upgrade their security levels and strategies.
5. There are identified gaps in the system due to corrupt officials. The account shall be maintained for every individual participating in this cause. It may also help in keeping up with the pace of fighting against organized crime units.

The threats stated above shall catalyze bringing the attention of the federal government towards the severity of the growth of international organized crimes within US jurisdiction.

Strategic Goals

The departments focusing on fighting against the organized crime units shall have the strategic goals stated below:

Target International Organized Crime Figures and Organizations

For actually operating against organized crimes, it is important that all the relevant information is gathered for the international organized crime figure and to evaluate their connection of possible link with any organized group operating in the US. There have been significant achievements in the drug trafficking incidents and the networks connecting the elements working locally with the support of international funding are caught. Further sharing of relevant intelligence will help to find the other organized crimes too.

For this purpose, a new committee or a team shall be developed so that they shall invest all their efforts in identifying the targeted international organized crime units. For this purpose, these teams shall have the authority on operating internationally as well so that the entire network could be eliminated from the root level.

Domestic Law Enforcement Operations against International Organized Crime Targets

International organized units operating from general grounds or locally have been the major threat to U.S. law enforcement. Thus, the US law enforcement department shall work on the cases from different angles and in collaboration sharing all the required intelligence which may lead to the actual corrupt chain. When the agencies are working together and sharing information, the efforts generated will be more concrete and to the point. Thus, the allocation of resources for the specified targets may help the teams to hit the target. In response to the efforts, the law enforcement teams shall be recognized for their efforts or given tangible rewards so that they continuously work for their aims efficiently in the future.

Pursue Domestic, Foreign, and Joint Law Enforcement team up with Foreign counterparts for operating against the International Organized Crime Threats

Due to ongoing globalization, US law enforcement authorities and other security departments from around the world are fighting against crime on a wider ground for eliminating them from the face of the earth. Thus, the collaboration of the laws from other countries has led to the development of a team that has the authority and aims to fight crime internationally. The United States law enforcement departments shall share information with another internationally operating office so that the jurisdictions shall not limit the operational capacity of the law enforcement agencies and the organized crime units have no place to hide whether it is on US soil or in other countries. The development of the task force in collaboration with the foreign counterparts is a major success in breaking the circle and attacking the criminal units from all angles. Thus, this will not only improve the countering of these criminals but will help in identifying any individuals with base instincts earlier than they can gain competence (Wolak, 2015).

Recommendations

The incident of 9/11 has depleted domestic terror among US nationals. The developed counter-insurgency was required to ensure US security. Since that incident, 39 attacks have failed which were either due to inadequate preparation or due to the higher intelligence of the security departments. The lesson learned from fighting organized crime has identified this phenomenon that it may be a plan or negative thought of any foreign element, but it can only be successful if the local networks help these international organized units for operating on the US land.

For this purpose, the local and the state departments shall collaborate for information sharing regarding locally organized crime units whether or not they are receiving funding from any international organization or they are operating alone. Thus, the operational culture and strategies of law enforcement shall be changed and upgraded. The local and state law enforcement agencies with their foreign counterparts shall be sharing every information regarding the operations of these cartels, and it may help reduce the infiltration into the US and other countries. The adoption of the following measures will help the US government to focus better on the internal security state of the United States and to build a better place for people to live:

• The collaborations shall be generated from the top level. Such as the president of the US shall personally contact the leaders of the other countries to develop the foreign counterparts team. Also, the authority for operating with the consent of the government shall be ensured for future progress in fighting against organized crimes.
• The department of homeland security shall develop uniform laws for training the security departments for fighting against organized crimes. The new officers shall be given the motivation and direction along with appropriate training before launching them in the field.
• The department of justice shall be the center for all the security agencies to report their findings and operational statistics so that the information is processed under one roof and the directions are given to ensure the proficiency and success of the operation. Centralizing the entire process will be reducing the loopholes within the system, and no officers will be bribed through the organized crime units.

Conclusion

US law enforcement has experienced a complete paradigm shift and as the offense has evolved. The organized crime groups have improved their working capacity and as the foreign terrorists are unable to commit the attack like 9/11 may engage the organized units within the US. Through this, they may infiltrate the legal and economic system. It will be damaging for the US progression because once the people and the state are not at peace, the overall growth of the country will be hindered.

To deal with the situation better the decentralized working of the departments shall be centralized and all the agencies shall work under one centralized unity, the department of justice. Thus, if the terror has to be fought against the terrorism with the help of local and state departments on common grounds, then the officer shall be sharing information with each other and shall take responsibility for their actions. The leadership shall take appropriate measures for fighting against crime and shall motivate the judiciary to take necessary steps for making the United States a better place to live.

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