NCJ Number
114200
Journal
Policy Studies Review Volume: 6 Issue: 1 Dated: (August 1986) Pages: 160-170
Date Published
1986
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This article describes and comments on the Pennsylvania Crime Commission's (PCC) evaluation of its efforts to combat organized crime in the State and discusses its failure to develop an accurate portrayal of organized crime in Pennsylvania.
Abstract
The PCC is a nonpartisan body composed of five commissioners. Its efforts focus on the investigation and compilation of intelligence on organized crime. The PCC's evaluation of its efforts considers such quantitative factors as the number of public hearings and investigative referrals, the number of requests for intelligence information, the number and scope of legislative proposals, the number of public appearances and publications, and the number of arrests and convictions of persons identified as organized-crime members. Hardly any attention has been given to the evaluation of program outcomes, i.e., the extent to which the PCC's efforts have helped reduce illegal activities by organized criminals. Further, the commission's approach to investigating organized crime is based on fundamental conceptual flaws which would be apparent if it took a different approach to collecting and analyzing data on organized crime and on its own role in addressing it. The first step in reconceptualizing organized crime is to distinguish among the various 'industries' with which organized crime is associated, and the second step is to break down each type of enterprise into its component phases, operations, or functions. Such an approach would expose the fallacy of the PCC's conception of organized crime as a static, bureaucratic, structural conspiracy. 22 references.