Week 12: Organized Crime Policy in Canada Flashcards
According to Beare…
What are the factors most impt to shaping organized crime law and policy in Canada?
How does she define organized crime/how should it be addressed?
US/International law + shared ideology
Never ending loose networks with unclear “bad guys”
- Demand will always be there so to support organized crime so its best to address the demand side of the issue
What are some issues with analyzing organized crime? (Beare opinion 2)
Organized crime as concept is burdened by vagueness and breadth
Mystique fed through pop culture and by rhetoric of those who have political or policing agenda to promote
Beare: policy making increasingly reflects international pressures toward harmonization of laws and procedures related to organized crime (view of international law as narrowing)
Where does criminal justice policy come from?
- Domestic factors (role of domestic politics like ideological priorities of government leadership, lobby groups, etc)
- International factors - role of US officials in shaping global policy, developed nations via G7/8, UN and EU
What does Beare argue on the subject of ordinary crimes and early war on drugs?
Ordinary crimes have been redefined to be national security threats
- Americanization of Canadian law enforcement, requiring wider legislation with enhanced policing powers
Argues that failure of earlier war on drugs (eg: no impact on amount, price or availability) led to US to argue real problem was global organized crime conspiracy that had to be fought on different fronts
What has occurred to hinder the presence of research driven policy? what does Beare say?
Decline in independent research capacity of gov departments (including on crime policy)
- Limits ability to give fearless and evidence based advice to cabinet ministers
Beare: it is here that policy making on org crime must be assessed (highly politicized, direct international links and increasing framing as “nat security threats”)
What are the key elements in defining organized crime?
What are some issues involved with this list’s limitations? - what may be a better perspective?
Defined as process rather than type of crime
- Need degree of organization
- Replaceable membership
- Capability to gain advantage through corruption or violence
Issues
- Broad def like this catches way more than gangs and mafia (white collar)
- Financial crimes seldom referred to as organized crime
Better perspective: look at how much harm results from the crime
What was the criminal law response to the 2008 global financial crisis? What reason does Beare give for the difficulties in addressing financial crimes?
Despite sig harm to society and individuals (loss of houses, pensions, suicide) only one top banker went to jail for US sparked global financial crisis
- Kareem Serageldin approved concealment of hundred of millions in losses
Beare: significant costs to CJS makes it hard to address complex org crime (eg: forensic accounting) also broader ideological consensus (bail out big banks)
How does Canada’s 1983 enterprise crime strategy define organized crime?
Quotes BC business of crime study: “All types of criminal activity that are part of an ongoing arrangement b/n persons for the purpose of profit”
What is Canada’s 1980s approach to fighting organized crime? What is Canada’s 1990’s approach to fighting organized crime?
1980s
Target up (kingpin focus)
Focus on the money (anti-money laundering policies that extend beyond police)
1990s
New focus on biker gangs (quebec’s bloody biker war)
New legislation like Bill C22 on money laundering
Anti-gang legislation
Courts respond by supporting new, general language
How much of the GDP represents the economic cost/burden of licit and illicit drug use? How much of CJS costs?
4% of GDP or 39.7 billion $ (2002)
43% of CJS expenditures
What are the key morbidity indicators for drug use?
What are the social factors that increase morbidity risk?
Blood borne viruses (BBV - HIV, AIDS, HCV)
- 40-90% HCV rates among drug-users across Canada
Homelessness, injecting in public spaces, imprisonment and law enforcement
What is methadone maintenance treatment? what are some issues?
Shift towards medicalization of the heroin-use problem, valuable and successful method of treating addiction, illicit behaviors and BBV transmission
Limitation: even under best conditions MMT reaches only 50% of users with many rotating out of treatment
What are drug-treatment courts?
What are the three justifications for their existence?
Therapeutic justice - concerted effort to break the cycle of drug use and criminal recidivism
Multidisciplinary team approach - bridging criminal justice and health services
Three arguments
- lower criminal recidivism rates
- reduce drug use
- cost-effective alternative for incarceration
