NCJ Number
81382
Date Published
1981
Length
91 pages
Annotation
This General Accounting Office study addresses the need for the Department of Justice to better coordinate the Federal effort against organized crime.
Abstract
Organized crime is flourishing despite an improved strike force program. The Department of Justice has successfully indicted and prosecuted many high level crime figures, but a stronger Federal attack is needed. Examination of the strike forces in Brooklyn, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia shows that the Federal effort against organized crime can be further improved by (1) establishing executive committees in each strike force to improve the focus of the program, (2) concentrating the strike forces' limited resources on indepth investigations and prosecutions of high level organized crime figures and allowing other cases to be handled by U.S. Attorneys' Offices, and (3) emphasizing the use of case-initiation reports and implementing an evaluation system. Further, the potential impact of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act has not been fully realized. While the statute has been used to obtain significant sentences for convicted defendants, there have been few asset forfeitures. Forfeiture investigations could be enhanced through more extensive use of Internal Revenue Service expertise. The Departments of Treasury and Justice agreed with many of the report's conclusions and recommendations. Justice did take exception to recommendations bearing on transferring strike force cases to U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the need for establishing executive committees in each strike force. The report provides a tabular summary of U.S. code violations pursued by four selected strike forces (indictments and convictions). (Author summary modified)