I will show in this paper that the United States government have checks and balances in place to guide law enforcement to mitigate the threat of organized crime influence on the street and in the courtroom.Reaction #2The statement “No effective structures or information is currently available to assist law enforcement in dealing with the threat from organized crime on the street or in the courtroom” is simply not true. In the 1950s a Senate committee created to investigated organized crime and its effect on commerce.
When the investigation was completed, it displayed that organized crime was affecting the country’s economy and safety. Lawmakers immediately react to the findings that showed that organized crime was having a negative effect on the country’s economy and threatening people’s well-being, so to combat organized crime Congress created the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970 (OCCA)On October 15, 1970, the OCCA was set into law. The law provided rules and programs for participants in organized crime and witnesses. The programs and codes are as follows: perjury, witness protection; disobedient witnesses; and witness self-incrimination. The law provided harsher punishments and providing the death penalty for those are prosecuted for murder, arson and bombing cases (“Crime Control Act of 1970 | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives”, 2018).
The OCCA has thirteen parts, the title that surprises me was the Witness Security Program. The Witness Security Program is overseen by U.S. Marshals Service. The U.S. Marshall Services oversees the security, health, safety of witnesses and their dependents, and everyone else who’s involved that lives that is in danger because of testifying against dangerous defendants.
The Marshals Service has administrated services to more than 8,600 witnesses and 9,900 of their family members since the program began in 1971 (Usmarshals.gov, 2018). One of the essential tools that are available to enhance law enforcement efforts in pursuing organized crime are Fusion Centers.
Fusion Centers are a multi-level venture of all level agencies that provide resources, expertise, and information to the center. Providing information to enhance law enforcement’s ability to detect, prevent, investigate, and respond to organized crime. (It.ojp.gov, 2018). Fusion centers are effective and efficient they give law enforcement the ability to exchange information and intelligence to improve the ability to defend against organized crime by fusing data from all sources (It.ojp.
gov, 2018). Data fusion is the exchange of information from all available sources including all levels of law enforcement (Local, State, and Federal), public safety, and the private sector. Fused data results provide useable intelligence and information to combat organized crime and terrorism. (It.ojp.gov, 2018). Lastly, everyday technology is improving and with improving technology law enforcement will be able to keep up with organized crime. Hopefully, transforming the way law enforcement of doing business to become more proactive instead of reactive.
In conclusion, I demonstrated that there are laws, programs that were created from the statutes and a resource for law enforcement to share data on all levels of government to use to combat organized crime. The statement “No effective structures or information is currently available to assist law enforcement in dealing with the threat from organized crime on the street or in the courtroom” is just not true.
