NCJ Number
110548
Journal
Criminal Justice Quarterly Volume: 9 Issue: 3 Dated: (Fall 1987) Pages: 173-184
Date Published
1987
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This article reports on a study analyzing the characteristics of the hazardous waste offense and the offender in Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
Abstract
The study examined the criminal actions constituting hazardous waste offenses by focusing on how they are committed, the criminal skills of those who commit them, and the criminal careers and criminal networks of offenders. The study also looked at the occupational characteristics of offenders and whether they were linked to organized crime. The hazardous waste law enforcement structures in each of the four States were studied to assess how and under what kinds of statutes the criminal charges are brought. Additionally, case dispositions are cited for each of the four States to demonstrate how methods and styles of enforcement shape the identity of the hazardous waste offender. Law enforcement personnel interviewed for the study responded that agencies charged with enforcing hazardous waste regulations were inefficient, in part, because of their vulnerability to being coopted by regulatees, their inexperience and inability to detect criminality and collect evidence, and their styles of enforcement. It is concluded that while the goals of regulators and enforcers are not the same, their understanding of one another's work can increase their inability to do their own work effectively. 10 footnotes.