Helping the World Combat International Crime

• NCJ Number: 191385
• Journal: Global Issues Volume: 6 Issue: 2 Dated: August 2001 Pages: 9-11
• Author(s): Bruce Swartz
• Date Published: August 2001
• Length: 3 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. Downloaded October 26, 2001.

Annotation

This article describes the initiatives undertaken by the U.S. Justice Department to help emerging democracies build stronger law enforcement and criminal justice systems as a strategy to curtail the activities of organized crime.

Abstract

The U.S. Justice Department's response to international crime is threefold: the investigation and prosecution of criminal activity; creation of a network of international agreements to facilitate cooperation in the fight against international crime; and training and technical assistance programs for foreign countries that are striving to improve their legal infrastructure and law enforcement capabilities. The latter programs are the focus of this article. The U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance, and Training (OPDAT) is responsible for providing assistance to strengthen criminal justice institutions in other nations. Often working in tandem with OPDAT is its sister unit within the Department of Justice, the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance program, which provides assistance to police forces in developing countries throughout the world. The Justice Department focuses its resources on six core areas that are critical to the efforts of the U.S. Government in the battle against international crime: organized crime, money laundering and asset forfeiture, corruption, narcotics trafficking, trafficking in human beings, and intellectual property. The Justice Department's technical assistance promotes the modernization of criminal procedure codes that feature adversarial concepts, such as public hearings, cross-examination, and live testimony, so as to bring greater transparency to the criminal justice process. Such a system also includes effective investigative techniques. The technical assistance also emphasizes the importance of greater cooperation ("team building") between prosecutors and police.