| Strategy |
Evidence |
Benefits |
Costs/Limitations/Side Effects |
Overall Effectiveness |
| Prosecuting persons involved in OC |
Limited |
- many convictions under RICO
- some crime families disrupted
|
RICO too sweeping; cases long and complex |
Moderate |
| Prosecuting OC kingpins |
Limited |
many major figures convicted in US |
OC activities not reduced; groups adapt/restructure; often ignores most influential individual. |
Low |
| Prosecutions through the use of taxation laws |
Limited |
useful in lieu of criminal prosecution (historically many US OC figures convicted this way) |
investigation can be costly; concerns about intrusions into the private dealings of citizens |
Moderate |
| Measures to combat money laundering |
Significant |
- many recent convictions in US
- a few large successful undercover operations
|
currency transaction reports too numerous; rarely initiate investigations & often bypassed; many countries uncooperative |
Low |
| Seizure and forfeiture of assets |
Limited |
increasing amounts seized & confiscated; assets confiscated may exceed costs of proceedings |
third parties harmed; due process compromised; abuses of proceeds by enforcement agencies; issues in managing assets seized; complex cases; miniscule fraction of proceeds confiscated; costly & complex |
Low |
| Injunctions, divestitures, trusteeships |
Limited |
can dissolve or restructure tainted organization or remove certain individuals from contact with an organization |
none mentioned |
Moderate-High |
| Witness protection programs |
Significant |
afford good protection; facilitated prosecution of many OC figures |
costly; clients often career criminals who may commit new crimes; may disrupt family ties; interagency co-operation issues; witnesses may abuse or not comply; may compromise fair trial |
Moderate-High |
| Anonymous juries |
Nil |
afford protection to jurors |
thought to convey image of defendant as dangerous, thereby undermining presumption of innocence |
Insufficient Data |
| Witness immunity |
Nil |
can facilitate testimony of lower-level OC figures against higher-level figures; juries said to respond favourably as testimony viewed as more credible |
hard to determine value of testimony in advance; may be abused by witness; perception that immunized testimony unreliable |
Insufficient Data |
| Investigative grand juries |
Nil |
has broad investigative authority; investigates corruption in government and law enforcement; publicity encourages action on OC |
can be used to harass political undesirables; privacy concerns |
Insufficient Data |
| Citizen's & police commissions & community-based efforts |
Limited |
investigate OC with lesser standard of proof; sensitize & inform public about OC; broad & long term approach; some indication of OC disruption |
possible political interference; civil liberties concerns due to lower standard of proof |
Insufficient Data |
| Strike and drug task forces (US) |
Limited |
coordinated attack on OC; OC strike forces brought some indictments; drug task forces brought many indictments & seizures/forfeitures & targeted international organizations |
strike forces had juris-dictional disputes with US attorneys' offices & eventually were shut down |
Moderate |
| Undercover operations and informants |
Limited |
required in many proceeds of crime/laundering investigations; may produce many convictions & demoralize OC groups |
costly; dangerous; informers may be unreliable or overzealous; officers may be corrupted or co-opted; may harm their lives & third parties |
Low-Moderate |
| Electronic surveillance |
Limited |
viewed by some as indis-pensable due to unreliability & unavailability of other evidence; much OC business conducted over phone & in meetings; yielded some convictions of high-level figures |
major privacy concerns; very costly; planning of OC's activities may occur at several locations, interpretation issues |
Moderate |
| Intelligence analysis |
Limited |
laid groundwork for the disruption of Cosa Nostra families; involved to some extent in most OC investigations |
law enforcement resistance to and lack of expertise in this area |
Insufficient Data |
| Reducing the supply of illegal goods & services |
Significant |
US drug war yielded many seizures/forfeitures & convictions |
supply of drugs & overdoses largely unaffected by war; strained relations with source countries; domestic gang warfare; disproportionate penalties; stronger OC groups empowered; resistance to crop substitution & eradication; unlimited supply globally; groups adapt supply routes |
Low |
| Increasing regulation and establishing public benefit corporations |
Limited |
weak regulation may favour OC groups in controlling industries; removed OC influence from some sectors; reduces costs of services as cartels broken |
excessive regulation may hinder commerce |
Moderate-High |
| Legalization of certain goods and services |
Limited |
may lessen demand for services provided by OC; reduces law enforcement costs & social/economic costs related to illicit status |
OC groups may shift to other activities; consumption of affected good/service may increase along with its associated harms; OC groups may have larger markets; regulation & taxation difficult |
Insufficient Data |
