Editing Organized crime (section)

====The locus of power and organized crime====
Some espouse that all organized crime operates at an international level, though there is currently no international court capable of trying offenses resulting from such activities (the International Criminal Court's remit extends only to dealing with people accused of offenses against humanity, e.g., genocide). If a network operates primarily from one jurisdiction and carries out its illicit operations there and in some other jurisdictions it is 'international,' though it may be appropriate to use the term 'transnational' only to label the activities of a major crime group that is centered in no one jurisdiction but operating in many. The understanding of organized crime has therefore progressed to combined internationalization and an understanding of social conflict into one of power, control, efficiency risk and utility, all within the context of organizational theory. The accumulation of social, economic and political power<ref>{{cite journal|last=Reed|journal=Organization Studies|date=2001|volume=22|issue=2|doi=10.1177/0170840601222002|title=Organization, Trust and Control: A Realist Analysis|pages=201–228|s2cid=145080589}}</ref> have sustained themselves as a core concerns of all criminal organizations:

[[File:KWC - 1989 Aerial.jpg|thumb|From the 1950s to the 1970s, the [[Kowloon Walled City]] in British Hong Kong was controlled by local [[triad (organized crime)|Chinese triads]].]]
* social: criminal groups seek to develop social control in relation to particular communities;
* economic: seek to exert influence by means of corruption and by coercion of legitimate and illegitimate praxis; and,
* political: criminal groups use corruption and violence to attain power and status.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Wang|first=Peng|title=The rise of the Red Mafia in China: a case study of organised crime and corruption in Chongqing|journal=Trends in Organized Crime|date=2013|volume=16|issue=1|pages=49–73|doi=10.1007/s12117-012-9179-8|s2cid=143858155}}</ref><ref name="Van Duyne1996"/>

Contemporary organized crime may be very different from traditional Mafia style, particularly in terms of the distribution and centralization of power, authority structures and the concept of 'control' over one's territory and organization. There is a tendency away from centralization of power and reliance upon family ties towards a fragmentation of structures and informality of relationships in crime groups. Organized crime most typically flourishes when a central government and [[civil society]] is disorganized, weak, absent or untrustworthy.

This may occur in a society facing periods of political, economic or social turmoil or transition, such as a change of government or a period of rapid economic development, particularly if the society lacks strong and established institutions and the [[rule of law]]. The [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] and the [[Revolutions of 1989]] in [[Eastern Europe]] that saw the downfall of the [[Communist Bloc]] created a breeding ground for criminal organizations.

The newest growth sectors for organized crime are [[identity theft]] and online [[extortion]]. These activities are troubling because they discourage consumers from using the [[Internet]] for [[e-commerce]]. E-commerce was supposed to level the playing ground between small and large businesses, but the growth of online organized crime is leading to the opposite effect; large businesses are able to afford more [[Bandwidth (computing)|bandwidth]] (to resist [[denial-of-service attack]]s) and superior security. Furthermore, organized crime using the Internet is much harder to trace down for the police (even though they increasingly deploy [[cybercrime|cybercop]]s) since most police forces and [[list of law enforcement agencies|law enforcement agencies]] operate within a local or national jurisdiction while the Internet makes it easier for criminal organizations to operate across such boundaries without detection.

In the past criminal organizations have naturally limited themselves by their need to expand, putting them in competition with each other. This competition, often leading to violence, uses valuable resources such as manpower (either killed or sent to prison), equipment and finances. In the United States, [[Whitey Bulger|James "Whitey" Bulger]], the [[Irish Mob]] boss of the [[Winter Hill Gang]] in [[Boston]] turned [[informant]] for the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI). He used this position to eliminate competition and consolidate power within the city of Boston which led to the imprisonment of several senior organized crime figures including [[Gennaro Angiulo]], [[underboss]] of the [[Patriarca crime family]]. Infighting sometimes occurs within an organization, such as the [[Castellamarese war]] of 1930–31 and the Boston Irish Mob Wars of the 1960s and 1970s.

Today criminal organizations are increasingly working together, realizing that it is better to work in cooperation rather than in competition with each other (once again, consolidating power). This has led to the rise of global criminal organizations such as [[Mara Salvatrucha]], [[18th Street gang]] and [[Barrio Azteca]]. The [[American Mafia]], in addition to having links with organized crime groups in Italy such as the [[Camorra]], the [['Ndrangheta]], [[Sacra Corona Unita]] and [[Sicilian Mafia]], has at various times done business with the [[Irish Mob]], [[Jewish-American organized crime]], the Japanese [[yakuza]], [[Organised crime in India|Indian mafia]], the [[Russian mafia]], [[Thief in law]] and Post-Soviet Organized crime groups, the Chinese [[triad (organized crime)|triads]], Chinese [[Tong (organization)|Tongs]] and Asian street gangs, [[Outlaw motorcycle club|Motorcycle Gangs]] and numerous White, Black and Hispanic prison and street gangs. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimated that organized crime groups held $322 billion in assets in 2005.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.havocscope.com/market-value-of-organised-crime-322-billion/|title = Market Value of Organised Crime-Havocscope Black Market|access-date = 2013-03-10}} {{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

This rise in cooperation between criminal organizations has meant that law enforcement agencies are increasingly having to work together. The FBI operates an organized crime section from its headquarters in [[Washington, D.C.]] and is known to work with other national (e.g., [[Polizia di Stato]], [[Federal Security Service (Russia)|Russian Federal Security Service (FSB)]] and the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]]), federal (e.g., [[Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives]], [[Drug Enforcement Administration]], [[United States Marshals Service]], [[Immigration and Customs Enforcement]], [[United States Secret Service]], US [[Diplomatic Security Service]], [[United States Postal Inspection Service]], [[U.S. Customs and Border Protection]], [[United States Border Patrol]], and the [[United States Coast Guard]]), state (e.g., [[Massachusetts State Police]] Special Investigation Unit, [[New Jersey State Police]] organized crime unit, [[Pennsylvania State Police]] organized crime unit and the [[New York State Police]] Bureau of Criminal Investigation) and city (e.g., [[New York City Police Department]] Organized Crime Unit, [[Philadelphia Police Department]] Organized crime unit, [[Chicago Police]] Organized Crime Unit and the [[Los Angeles Police Department]] Special Operations Division) law enforcement agencies.