Organised Crime and the Criminal Justice Process

arrange iniquity and the iniquitous nicety ProcessThis get along about will begin with a brief digest of the historical work of unionized whitlow offence. Then the interpretation of coordinate hatred will be inclined with examples of areas associated with unionized evil. The distressing arbitrator Process will then be explained and the role of the severe Organised offensive activity substance including the pluss Rec overy Agency with statistics showing the economical and social imp coiffure of organised umbrage. Fin all(prenominal)y a brief outline of Cohens view of organised crime will be given and the role of the dupes of crime as strike players in the Criminal umpire Process and ending with Boxs clues to understand well-nigh heavy crimes. tally to King et al (2000) the battle over the origins of nonionized crime is one universe constantly fought, and historians rich person utilized archive data, much(prenominal) as police force and judicial reports , economic evidence, pamphlets, diaries and biographies, to disinter the professional and organized savage.Further to a greater extent, King et al (2000) states that organised crime seems to have been a feature of British society from Elizabethan clocks onwards and British studies of professional illegals, some of them displaying elements of organization, indicate a wide range of activities.However, by the eighteenth century professional and organized outlaw gangs, armed with a variety of turn strategies from petty theft and violence to fraud, were firmly formal in Britain (King et al 2000). Criminals not only established their activities in capital of the linked Kingdom where the market place was more than or less affluent and the ascendancy of the emerging operative class was at its most ineffective, but in addition in coastal, rude and provincial areas (King et al 2000).The definition of Organised crime is broadly seen as economically motivated offending which invol ves more than two deal (Hale et al 2005). Furthermore, Hale et al (2005) suggests that unlike legally defined crimes or specify offences much(prenominal) as murder, drug trafficking and money launder, organised crime tends to be confined to its structures and relationships and the general nature of crimes shootted by much(prenominal) associations. match to Hale et al (2005) Article 2 of the United Nations Convention Against multinational Organised offensive activity states that an organised vile host must have at least three members operating in concert to commit a serious crime as business office of an internally organise organization which has been in existence over a period of time preceding and subsequent to the commission of the shepherds crook act. Whilst such a definition brooks a general framework of understanding, it lavatory in utilize undermine effective integrity enforcement responses (Hale et al 2005). An organised crime group can include anything from a four person, low level deal group to a highly complex, international networks involved in valet trafficking or money laundering (Hale et al 2005).Get help with your essay from our expert essay writersFurthermore fit in to Marshall, (1998) organised crime is a term used for situations where a large number of people in a hierarchical structure are engaged in an on-going conception of execrable activities. The most rough-cut areas associated with organised crime are extortion and the supplying of illegal goods and services, such as drink, drugs, gambling, money laundering and prostitution (Marshall, 1998). match to Marshall, (1998) these activities involve continuous relations with the victims or clients, who have contact with the lower berth echelons of the organization. In order to succeed organised or pack crime involves some element of corruption or intimidation of the police or other law enforcement agents (Marshall, 1998).Marshall, (1998) suggests that organised crime is often estimate to be synonymous with a secret society, such as the tongs of the Chinese diaspora, the Camorra of the nineteenth century Naples and the Mafia of Sicily and Costa Nostra in the United States. Although, according to Marshall, (1998) it seems more likely that if such societies exist at all, they do not actually run culpable activities, but rather act as a fraternal organisations for some of the racketeers.On the other hand, according to Marshall, (1998) organised crime is associated with violence and threats in the course of extortion, but as well in the maintenance of control over subordinates, and struggles for power within groups and the struggles for monopoly control between groups.Furthermore, Hale et al (2005) points out that organised crime can be argued as primarily a reactive phenomenon, exploiting gaps in a diverse and lucrative market. Also according to Hale et al (2005) Its clientele are, for the most helping, ordinary folk who seek, alternative routes to satisfying necessitate unmet or proscribed by the legislatures of the countries they inhabit or pass finished.However, according to Hale et al (2005) In many cases clients are also victims, obliged or enticed into cooperation, as in the trafficking of women and children and in areas of economic downslope and acute social inequality organised crime can bear alternative employment and a reinstatement of status, a situation currently common in former communist states.According to Kelbie, (2007) Human trafficking is a increment raft and it is estimated that around 700,000 people are trafficked in Europe all(prenominal) socio-economic class, and most of them are women and girls who are hale into prostitution, while others are brought in to work illegally. Furthermore, Kelbie, (2007) estimates that 4,000 women are trafficked into Britain each year and are forced to work in the multi- zillion pound sex industry. As more numbers of Eastern European and African Girls are traffic ked into Britain, some as young as 12 years old, the traffickers are shifting their tack outside major cities (Kelbie, 2007).Consequently, as a result of this growing trade in Human Trafficking, Glasgow is the only city outside London to provide help and support to victims of sexual exploitation (Kelbie, 2007).Furthermore, according to Kelbie, (2007) the citys organised sex industry is worth approximately 7 million pounds a year, earned from the exploitation of women who are forced to work in saunas, private flats and as escorts. The women forced to work in these places are regularly sold and re-sold between organised criminals operating in all of Britains major cities (Kelbie, 2007).Meanwhile, in that location are millions of incidences of online crime in Britain each year (Sharp, 2007). Furthermore, according to Sharp, (2007) around 3 million internet crimes were committed in the UK last year and one of the most common is identity theft. In 2004, two people were arrested in con nection with an internet crime ring, the Shadow Crew, who planned to defraud consumers and banks out of hundreds of millions dollars (Sharp, 2007).British organised crime has its families modelled along the lines of Mafia families in the United States. One of the most powerful recent criminal families has been the Arifs from Stockwell, in South London. They were involved in armed robberies and drug smuggling in the 1980s, and also owned a string of pubs, restaurant and clubs, and it is certain that these establishments were bought from the proceeds of their criminal activities (Giddens, 1977).According to Giddens, (1977) Bekir Arif was captive for five years at the end of the 1980s after macrocosm convicted of robbery with violence, and the reign of the Arifs ended in the early 1990s, following a series of police operations. The head of the family, Dogan Arif is currently serving a fourteen year prison sentence for his part in a 8.5 million drug smuggling deal (Giddens, 1977).In or der to cast and manage the risks that organised crime presents, investigation and law enforcement play essential roles in bringing offenders to justice. According to Davies et al (1998) in exploring what a criminal justice aims to do, we need to distinguish between the goals of the clay as a whole, and the functions of the different agencies who make up the system.The cross-system goals of the criminal justice system according to Davies et al (1998) are protecting the public by pr eveningting and deterring crime, by rehabilitating offenders and incapacitating others who constitute a persistent threat to the community, upholding and promoting the rule of law and respect for the law, by ensuring due process and proper treatment of suspects, arrestees, defendants and those held in custody, successfully prosecuting criminals and acquitting innocent people accused of crime.Furthermore, maintaining law and order, clayey criminals with regard to the principles of just deserts, and regi stering social disapproval of censured behaviour by labored criminals, and finally aiding and advising the victims of crime(Davies et al 1998).The National Crime Squad was perpetrate into effect by the Police issue 1997 and came into operation on the initiative April 1998 (Newburn, 2003). Furthermore, it merged with all regional crime squads. They targeted serious and organised crime, such as immigration crime, illegal arms and drug trafficking crimes and money laundering and counterfeiting (Davies et al 2005).Following the wicked Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, the sombre Organised Crime Agency was created and the force officially came into being in April 2006, and its function was to tackle the growing problem of international criminal gangs. (Home role, 2008). The agency was formed from the amalgamation of the National Crime Squad, the National Criminal Intelligence Service, the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit, the investigative and intelligence sections of HM Revenue an d Customs on serious drugs trafficking and the UK Immigration Service trustworthy for organised immigration crime (Home role, 2008). The salutary Fraud situation continues to be a assort agency.According to the (Home Office, 2008) the economic and social impact of organised crime in the UK is staggering and statistics show that global profits from people smuggling is estimated to be $10 one thousand thousand annually, 280,000 problem drug users hunting expedition half of all crime, every 1 spent on diacetylmorphine is estimated to generate about 4 of damage to the national economy and there are around 400 organised crime bosses in the UK with an amassed criminal wealth of approximately 440 million. The economic and social cost of organised crime is estimated to be in the region of 20 to 40 billion per year (Home Office, 2008).Furthermore, the Home Office, (2004) strategic plan for Criminal Justice 2004-2008 was the criminal justice process will relentlessly target the top 15- 20 prolific offenders in each Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership area, and more in bigger areas, and give the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Serious Organised Crime Agency the powers they need to take on the most serious and organised criminals. Also, the police, Crown Prosecution Service, courts and other agencies like the Serious Organised Crime Agency would be able to keep at least 50% of the value of all the criminal assets they help to enchant (Home Office, 2004).The recuperation of criminal assets would be the role of the Assets Recovery Agency which was set up under the Proceeds of Crime act 2002 and plays an important part in the governments plans to seize the profit out of crime, and separate and prevent the criminal organizations from continue with their activities by removing the money which motivates their activities and their major offset of income (Assets Recovery Agency, 2008).Meanwhile, the (Assets Recovery Agency, 2008) has three strategic aims to disrupt organised criminal enterprises through the recovery of criminal assets, thereby alleviating the effect of crime on communities, to promote the use of financial investigation as an integral part of criminal investigation, within and outside the Agency, domestically and internationally, through training and continuing professional development and to operate the agency in accordance with its pile and values.As, the Assets Recovery Agency was formed to stop organised criminal activities through the recovery of assets, on the 16th January 2007, the government introduced the Serious Crime Bill to Parliament setting out their suggestion to amalgamate the operative elements of the Assets Recovery Agency with the Serious Organised Crime Agency, and the Agencys training and accreditation function with the National Policing Improvement Agency (Assets Recovery Agency, 2008).On the 1st April 2008 the operational section of the Assets Recovery Agency merged with the Serious Org anised Crime Agency. Commenting on the merger Hughes, of SOCA, (2008) said we are gaining important skills and expertise with the arrival of Assets Recovery Agency staff and we welcome them into SOCA. instantaneously that the merger has taken place we will get on with the frolic that parliament want us to do, namely depriving crooks of their ill-gotten gains. However, the Home Office minister Coaker, of SOCA, (2008) said that assets recovery is critical in the fight against all levels of crime and we are determined to stop criminals profiting from crimes which affect the lives of law abide majority. Meanwhile, Goggins, SOCA, (2008) said this merger will strengthen the fight against crime in Northern Ireland as it combines the intelligence expertise of SOCA with the hands on practical experience of ARA. This combination will make the recovery of assets even more effective and strengthen our fight against those who profit from organised crime.Under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 on 17th January 2008 the Asset Recovery Agency recovered assets worth at least 4 million from the High motor lodge in Belfast. Also, on 5th February 2008 the agency obtained a Civil Recovery Order in the High Court in London worth an estimated 750,000 from a couple who had obtained the assets through the merciful trafficking of people, mainly from Eastern Europe into Britain to work in brothels (Assets Recovery Agency, 2008).According to the Home Office, (2008) the Serious Organised Crime Agency Second one-year Report showed another record year in the war against drugs with nearly 90 tonnes of class A drugs seized with partners at home and abroad, a 20 per cent increase on the previous year. The cocaine alone, cut to wonted(prenominal) UK street quality, could have realised 6bn. Furthermore, according to the Home Office, (2008) 53 revelation notices, requiring individuals to co-operate with investigations by producing documents or answering questions, and 46 warnings on crime th reats issued to over 2,500 private sector organisations throughout the UK.Meanwhile, the Home office, (2008) quotes over 46m criminal assets guarded by the domestic courts. All SOCA operations now include financial investigations with an additional 35 financial investigators appointed during 2007/2008.According to Wright, (2006) For Cohen, it is necessary to subroutine the interactions, processes and patterned relationships both within and outside organisations in a more holistic personal manner. It is necessary to establish the social context of the criminal activities of organised criminals, as well as the structure of their associations.Furthermore, for Wright, (2006) Cohen points out that criminology has done myopic work on the nature of organisational processes in crime groups. It has overlooked such things as recruitment, socialisation of members within organisations, and the way in which subcultures are developed and maintained. It has also to a large extent ignored such things as the protection and insulation of participants from the impact of conventional moral definitions. For Cohen, according to Wright, (2006) criminal groups should be subject to assessment of their internal structures and to analysis of all social activity as it bears upon the production of their criminal behaviour. It is necessary to show that the operational problems of human systems take a distinctive form in criminal enterprise and that this distinctiveness provides a justification for the specialised study of criminal organisation.Victims of crime are now recognised as key players in the Criminal Justice Process. According to Zedner, (2002) without the cooperation of the victim in reporting crime, furnishing evidence, identifying the offender, and acting as a witness in court, most crimes would hang in unknown and unpunished. The reliance of the Criminal Justice System on the victim has proved to be a powerful bargaining tool in the recognition of the victims interest s.The Victims Charter was first published by the Home Office in 1990 and at the time signified an important way anterior in the recognition of victims interests, though it had been criticized for offering little by way of enforceable standards (Zedner, 2002).The clues to understanding most serious crimes according to Box, (1983) can be located in power, not weakness, in privilege, not disadvantage, in wealth, not poverty.In conclusion, since the launch of the Serious Organised Crime Agency in April 2006 and the merging of the Assets Recovery Agency in April 2008, the Criminal Justice process in dealing with serious organised crime has had a huge impact on criminal gangs operating within the UK, with the recovery of their assets from their criminal activities and to make it harder for them to continue in their criminal ways.BIBLIOGRAPHYAssets Recovery Agency, (2008), reservation Sure Crime Doesnt Pay. Available athttp//www.assetsrecovery.gov.ukhttp//www.assetsrecovery.gov.uk/About ARA/AimsandObjectives/http//www.assetsrecovery.gov.uk/AboutARA/ narration/Box, S. (1983), Power, Crime and Mystification, Tavistock Publications, London.Davies, M Croall, H. and Tyrer, J. (1998), Criminal Justice An inception to the Criminal Justice System in England and Wales, (2nd Edition), Pearson Education Ltd, Harlow, Essex.Davies, M Croall, H. and Tyrer, J. (2005), Criminal Justice An Introduction to the Criminal Justice System in England and Wales, (3rd Edition), Pearson Education Ltd, Harlow, Essex.Giddens, A. (1997), Sociology, Polity Press, Cambridge.Hale, C Hayward, K Wahidin, A. and Wincup, E. (2005), Criminology, Oxford University Press, Oxford.Home Office, (2004), Cutting Crime, Delivering Justice A Strategic political platform for Criminal Justice 2004-08. Home Office, London.Home Office, (2008), Organised and International Crime. Available athttp//www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crime-victims/reducing-crime/organised-crime/Kelbie, P. (2007) Kirk acts on human trafficking in Scotland. Available athttp//www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/may/20/humanrights.internationalcrime/printKing, D.R and Wincup, E. (2000), Doing Research on Crime and Justice, Oxford University Press, Oxford.Marshall, G. (1998), Oxford dictionary of Sociology, Oxford University Press, Oxford.Newburn, T. (2003), Crime and Criminal Justice Policy, Harlow, Pearson.News Distribution Service, (2008), Home Office (National), Tackling serious organised crime in new and different ways. Available athttp//nds.coi.gov.uk/content/detail.asp?ReleaseID=367603NewsAreaID=2Navig..Proceeds of Crime Update, (2008). Available athttp//www.assetsrecovery.gov.uk/MediaCentre/ProceedsOfCrimeUpdate/2008/Serious Organised Crime Agency, (2008), Merger of SOCA and ARA strengthens Government feat to deprive criminals of their assets. Available athttp//www.soca.gov.ukSharp, R. (2007), Cybercrime Uncovered. Available athttp//www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/cybercrime-uncoveWright, A. (2006), O rganised Crime, William Publishing, Devon.Zedner, L. (2002), Victims, in M. Maguire R. Morgan and R. Reiner (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Criminology (3rd edition), Oxford University Press.