For A-Plus Writer Only

'! ( ·I I 11: liAr I I . -~· . . . .- . . 3' ..... .. J. ' ' '!!'l~ . " ~ ~ L . -

Book Reference

Peak, K. J. (2015). Policing America: Challenges and Best Practices (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

j t. ~ ~ :"~1t ~~,iL• .. !Ia . ~.t l;~ :~l;~

' ~ -·-~ . ~~~· _~::]~ -~ -- - .

(Courtesy Prince fames /Getty Images.)

12 Pursuing Criminal Syndicates Terrorists, Gangs, Drug Traffickers, and the Mob

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

As a result of reading this chapter, the student will be able to:

0 Define terrorism as well as its categories and types f) Explain why cyberterrorism and bioterrorism are particularly ominous 8 Review the extent, nature, and police responses to incidents involving

active shooters / mass killings

0 Delineate some of the basic law enforcement responses to terrorism, including the basic functions of the national incident management system

310 T

0 Discuss what legislative enactments are in place to help combat terrorism (:t Explain fusion centers and other new approaches to investigating terrorism

0 Discuss the definition, types, and national extent of street gangs and some successful/ow enforcement strategies being employed against them

8 Describe the nature and extent of illicit drug use and trafficking in this nation, as well as problems and strategies relating to methamphetamine, open-air drug markets, raves, bath salts and synthetic drugs

f) Explain the origins of organized crime, its several forms, and some means by which law enforcement agencies have been able to imprison significant numbers of mobsters

Introduction This chapter focuses on four areas of criminality that are particularly troublesome and challenging for

today's police and consume a tremendous proportion of their resources: terrorism (the structure and function of the federal Department of Homeland Security [DHS] and other federal agencies that deal

with terrorism were examined in Chapter 2), the Mob (or La Cosa Nostra-generally referred to as the Mafia or organized crime) , gangs, and illicit use of drugs.

Indeed, it is almost painful to dwell on the extent to which our lives would be forever changed if the

police failed in their efforts in these areas: if terrorists could radically change our form of government,

our freedom of speech and religion, and other protections to be like those of Middle Eastern countries;

if the Mob controlled most of our everyday commerce, profited greatly from promoting vice and contra-

band, and threatened and killed people at will from their underground lair; if large numbers of people could "earn" their living through wide-open, ramp ant gang-related activities; or if citizens could engage

in unfettered drug use and trafficking. We will look at how the police are attempting to ensure that such

scenarios never come to pass.

First, regarding terrorism, we will examine terrorism and its different types (to include examples of both

foreign anc:i domestic terrorism-the latter including "active shooter" incidents); discuss the National

Incident Management System that has evolved to deal with it; examine two pieces of legislation that

were enacted for addressing it; review the uniquely formidable and terrifying aspects of bioterrorism;

and review some new intelligence- and investigative-based means of confronting it. Then we will essentially use the same approach with both gangs and drugs , looking at their widespread nature, prob-

lems posed , and successful initiatives adopted by federal law enforcement and local police agencies for

addressing them.

Finally we consider organized crime , specifically La Cosa Nostra, also known as the Mafia or the Mob,

to include its defin ition, origins, and traditional criminal enterprises ; included in this chapter section is a look at three major tools that have assisted law enforcement in confronting La Cosa Nostra and impris-

oning a large number of its members. A summary, key terms, review questions, and several scenarios

and activities that provide opportunities to learn by doing conclude the chapter.

...,.. Terrorism Osama bin Laden is dead (killed by a team of US. Navy SEALs at a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in April 2011), but the fight against terrorism continues. Since September 11, 2001, there has been no cessation of attempts by would-be terrorists to

CHAPTER 12 Pursuing Criminal Syndicates 311 ...

attack people, significant buildings, and military objects in the United States; as examples, in recent years:

A would-be suicide bomber was intercepted on his way to the nation's Capital.

A plot to bomb synagogues and shoot Stinger missiles at military aircraft was uncov- ered in New York.

A scheme was uncovered that involved flying explosive -laden model planes into the Pentagon and the Capitol. 1

An attempted terrorist attack on the New York Federal Reserve Bank building was uncovered by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force. 2

The Central Intelligence Agency thwarted a plot by Al Qaeda to have a suicide bomber smuggle an experimental bomb aboard an airliner bound for the United States (the bomb contained no metal parts and was designed to escape detection at airport security). 3

A man is sentenced to life in prison after being convicted with two friends of plotting to carry out a coordinated suicide attack on New York City subways. 4

A Somali-born teenager who thought he was detonating a car bomb at a packed Christmas tree-lighting ceremony in downtown Portland was arrested by FBI agents who spent nearly six months setting up a sting operation.5

Often these planned attacks were foiled by law enforcement agencies using undercover agents and informers who posed as terrorists; in some cases they offered the terrorists a dummy missile, fake C-4 explosives, a disarmed suicide vest. The stings initially also begin oftentimes by identifying would-be attackers through their comments to an informer or angry postings on website.6

It is no secret that New York City remains a prime target of terrorists; in fact, more than a decade after the 9 I 11 attacks, nearly twenty plots against the city have been uncovered by federal and local authorities; plots have been uncovered against the Brooklyn Bridge, Times Square, the city's subway system, Citicorp Center, the New York Stock Exchange, and (as mentioned above) the Federal Reserve Bank- which is viewed as a means of destroying the U.S. economy and thus also destroying America. 7

As indicated above, notwithstanding that the police have won these "battles" against terrorism, the war on terrorism continues- from 2001 to 2013 costing the lives of more than 6,600 service members8 and costing nearly $1.5 trillion9-and will likely continue into the foreseeable future.

Definition and Types The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines terrorism as the "unlawful use of force against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives:' 10 Terrorism can take many forms, however, and does not always involve bombs and guns. For example, the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and a sister organization, the Animal Liberation Front, have been responsible for the majority of terrorist acts committed in the United States for several years. These ecoterrorists have burned greenhouses, tree farms, logging sites, ski resorts, and new housing developments.11 The FBI divides the current international terrorist threat into three categories.12

1 . Foreign sponsors of international terrorism. Seven countries- Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria- are designated as such sponsors and view terrorism as a tool of foreign policy. They fund, organize, network, and provide other support to formal terrorist groups and extremists.

CHAPTER 12 Pursuing Criminal Syndicates 312 T

Conspiracy to Commit Arson of United States Government Property and of Property Used in Interstate Commerce; Conspiracy to Commit Arson and Destruction of an Energy Facility; Arson of a Building

JOSEPH MAHMOUD DIBEE

Photo taken in early 1990s Aliases: Joe Dibee, "Seattle", "Steve", "God"

Date(s) of Birth Used: Place of Birth: Height: Weight: NCIC: Occupation:

Scars and Marks: Remarks:

DESCRIPllON November 10, 1967 Seattle, Washington 6'3" 150 pounds Wl08732930 Computer Software Tester

None known Dibee may have fled to Syria.

Hair: Eyes: Sex: Race: Nationality:

CAU110N

Black Brown Male White American

On January 19,2006, a federal grand jury in Eugene, Oregon, indicted Joseph Mahmoud Dibee on multiple charges related to his alleged role in a domestic terrorism cell. Dibee was charged with two conspiracy violations related to

seventeen incidents and one count of arson. These crimes occurred in Oregon, Washington, California, Colorado , and Wyoming, and date back to 1996. Many of the crimes he is accused of participating in were claimed to be committed by the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) or the Animal Liberation Front (ALF).

REWARD The FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest of Joseph Mahmoud Dibee.

SHOULD BE CONSIDERED ARMED AND DANGEROUS

If you have any information concerning this person, please contact your local FBI office or the nearest American Embassy

or Consulate.

A The FBI frequently posts information concerning individuals being sought for domestic terrorism. (Courtesy Department of Justice, FBI. )

2. Formalized terrorist groups. Autonomous organizations (such as bin Laden's al-Qaeda, Afghanistan's Taliban, Iranian-backed Hezbollah, Egyptian Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, and Palestinian HAMAS) have their own infrastructures, personnel, finances, and training facilities. Examples of this type are the al-Qaeda terrorists who attacked the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon in 2001.

CHAPTER 12 Pursuing Criminal Syndicates 313 T

3. Loosely affiliated international radical extremists. Examples are the persons who bombed the World Trade Center in 1993. They do not represent a particular nation but may pose the most urgent threat to the United States because they remain rela- tively unknown to law enforcement agencies.

Terrorist attacks in the United States are caused by both foreign and domestic terror- ists. Examples of the former are the attacks in September 2001 with hijacked jetliners on the World Trade Center complex in New York City and the Pentagon in Virginia, with more than 3,000 people killed or missing, and the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City in February 1993, killing 6 and injuring 1,000 people. An example of the latter is the April 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City by Timothy McVeigh, which killed 168 people and injured more than 500_13 (McVeigh was executed in June 2001.) ·

Another form of domestic terrorism which requires police training and response is the active shooter situation that often results in mass killings in schools and population centers. This form of terrorism is discussed below.

Companion Threats: Cyberterrorism and Bioterrorism Certainly the vulnerability of the United States to cybercrime keeps the country's pre- paredness experts awake at night. The specter of electricity going out for days and perhaps weeks, the gates of a major dam opening suddenly and flooding complete cities, or pipes in a chemical plant rupturing and releasing deadly gas are nightmare scenarios that could be wrought by hackers and/or terrorist groups who have the technical knowledge. Cyberterrorism also greatly challenges the police through such activities as data manipula- tion, software piracy, industrial espionage, bank card counterfeiting, and embezzlement. Hackers of all ages are breaking into computer systems of major corporations and obtaining credit card, telephone, and account information; some entice children for sexual purposes.

This is the domain of the serious and determined cyberterrorist, and the future of ter- rorism involves much more than planting a relatively harmless virus in a computer system or hacking into a major corporation's voicemail system. These types of crimes require the development of new investigative techniques, specialized training for police investigators, and employment of individuals with specialized, highly technological backgrounds. If the police are not prepared, these crimes could become the Achilles' heel of our society. Cyberterrorism and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, or drones) are discussed more in Chapter 14, concerning technologies.

Regarding bioterrorism, the use of anthrax in the United States in late 2001 left no doubt about people's vulnerability to biological weapons and the intention of some people to develop and use them for the purpose of bioterrorism. Smallpox, botulism, and plague also constitute major biological threats, and many experts feel that it is only a matter of time before biological weapons get into the wrong hands and are used like explosives were in the past. 14

Today, the person who controls this type of toxin could then sell it to terrorists (one has to wonder why international terrorists have not already done so). This form of terror- ism can wipe out an entire civilization. All that is required is a toxin that can be cultured and put into a spray form that can be weaponized and disseminated into the population. Fortunately, such substances are extremely difficult for all but specially trained individuals to make in large quantities and in the correct dosage; they are tricky to transport because live organisms are delicate; and they must be dispersed in a proper molecule size to infect the lungs of the target. Like chemical weapons, they are also dependent on the wind and the weather and are difficult to control. 15

Some cities have developed a planned response to such a catastrophic attack, with drills and training exercises that attempt to prepare officers for their roles in getting emergency

CH APTER 12 Pursuing Criminal Syndicates 314 ...

antibiotics to every resident, enforcing a quarantine, and using personal radiation detectors to check vehicles. 16

Responding to Active Shooter /Mass Killing Situations A sordid form of domestic terrorism-now all too common-that befalls local police is responding to mass killing incidents involving active shooters. We will briefly discuss its extent, nature, and relatively new police procedures that have evolved for such critical incidents.

The horrific killings in December 2012 of twenty-six children and teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, brought swift calls for greater controls on assault rifles as well as a review of such killings in the United States and calls for bet- ter treatment of mental illness. Although one study found that mass killings-defined as incidents in which four or more people are killed by the attacker-only account for about 1 percent of all murders, they occur on average about every two weeks. In fact, one review of such killings from 2006 through 2010-thus excluding such high-profile shootings as that in Newtown; a rampage in early 2012 in a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado (which left twelve dead and fifty-seven injured); and an attack on a Sikh temple in Wisconsin that killed six)-found that about one-fourth of mass murders involve two or more killers; one- third of such killings do not involve guns (i.e., they can involve fire, a knife, or a blunt instrument), and that children (ages twelve and under) are frequently victims, representing about one-fifth of all victims Y

Much has changed since the April, 1999 mass murders by two shooters at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, where fifteen people were killed (including the two shooters) while on-scene officers waited forty-five minutes for an elite SWAT team to arrive . As was seen in the Newtown active-shooter situation, police have greatly modified their protocols for dealing with such incidents. The most immediate change calls for police to react swiftly to such situations, with responding officers being trained to rush toward gunfire and-if necessary-even step over bodies and bleeding victims in order to stop the active shooter before more lives are lost. Such training is grounded on the assumption that a gunman in a mass shooting kills a person every fifteen seconds. [The approach prior to Columbine was for police to take a contain-and-wait strategy, intended to prevent officers and bystanders from getting killed; first responders would establish a perimeter to contain the situation, protect themselves, and then wait for the special-weapons team to go in and neutralize the shooters(s). This approach came under fire again in April 2009, when offi- cers waited nearly forty-five minutes for a SWAT team to arrive as thirteen people were killed at an immigrant center in Binghamton, New York. 18 ]

Since Columbine, police also typically employ what are termed contact teams, where officers from any jurisdiction quickly band together to enter a building in formation and confront the shooter(s), thus shifting the shooters' focus to the officers and away from the indiscriminate killing of innocent persons in the area. Then, special-weapons teams enter to search for any remaining shooters and to rescue any hostages. Another change wrought by Columbine is that special-weapons teams now typically have armed medics and rescue teams trained to remove wounded persons under fire .19

An often overlooked aspect of mass killings is the psychological impact on the first responders to the scene-police, firefighters, medics, and so on-who witness firsthand the terrible aftermath of such shootings. Many of them struggle not only with the carnage they witnessed, including being haunted by seeing the faces of victims' family members, but also from guilt caused by the fact that they were not able to do more. They should receive-and are often mandated to receive-treatment and counseling following such traumatic events.20

National Incident Management System In DHS Presidential Directive 5, Management of Domestic Incidents, President George W. Bush directed the DHS secretary to develop and administer a National Incident Management System (NIMS) . This system

CHAPTER 12 Pursuing Criminal Syndicates 315 T

is structured to provide a consistent nationwide approach for federal, state, and local governments to work together effectively to prepare for, prevent, respond to, and recover from domestic incidents. This directive requires all federal departments and agencies to adopt the NIMS and to use it-and to make its adoption and use by state and local agencies a condition for federal preparedness assistance beginning in fiscal year 2005. 21

The NIMS is a lengthy document that cannot be duplicated here in its entirety, so the following discussion is limited to some of its primary components.

Incident Command System The Incident Command System (ICS) was created to coordinate response personnel from more than one agency or teams from more than one jurisdiction and has been adopted to help local police agencies respond to terrorist incidents. A key strength of ICS is its unified command component, which is composed of four sections: operations, planning, logistics, and finance . Under ICS , all agencies go to the same location and establish a unified command post. 22 The most critical time for controlling a crisis is those initial moments when first responders arrive at the scene. They must quickly contain the situ- ation, analyze the extent of the crisis, request additional resources and special teams if needed, and communicate available information and intelligence to higher headquarters. Their initial actions provide a vital link to the total police response and will often deter- mine its outcome.

The five major functions of ICS are command, operations, planning, logistics, and finance/ administration:

1. Command. The command staff is responsible for overall management of the incident. When an incident occurs within a single jurisdiction without any overlap, a single incident commander should be designated with overall incident management responsibility to develop the objectives on which an actual action plan will be based. The unified command (UC) concept is used in multijurisdic- tional or multiagency incidents to provide guidelines for agencies with different legal, geographic, and functional responsibilities to coordinate, plan, and interact effectively. The composition ofthe UC will depend on the location(s) and type of incident.

2. Operations. The operations section is responsible for all activities focused on reducing immediate hazards, saving lives and property, establishing control of the situation, and restoring normal operations. Resources for this section might include specially trained single-agency personnel and equipment, and even special task forces and strike teams.

3. Planning. The planning section collects, evaluates, and disseminates incident situa- tion information and intelligence to the incident commander or UC, prepares status reports, displays situation information, and maintains status of resources assigned to the incident.

4. Logistics. The logistics section is responsible for all support requirements needed to facilitate effective incident management: facilities, transportation, supplies, equip - ment maintenance and fuel, food services, communications and technology sup- port, and emergency medical services.

5. Finance/administration. The finance/administration section is not required at all incidents but will be involved where incident management activities require finance and other administrative support services such as compensation/claims, determi- nation of costs, and procurement. Law enforcement executives should also create budget line-item codes and emergency purchase orders before such an event so that they will be readily available and accessible.

CHAPTER 12 Pursuing Crimina l Syndicates 316 ...

Legislative Measures Usa Patriot Act A number of new investigative measures were provided to federal law enforcement agencies through the enactment of the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act (commonly termed the USA PATRIOT Act) shortly after the 9/11 attacks. The act dramatically expanded the federal government's ability to investigate Americans without establishing probable cause for "intelligence purposes" and to conduct searches if there are "reasonable grounds to believe" there may be national security threats. Federal agencies, including the FBI and others, are given access to financial, mental health, medical, library, and other records .23 The act was reauthorized in March 2006, providing additional tools for protecting mass transportation systems and seaports from attack, taking steps to combat the methamphetamine (meth) epidemic, closing loopholes in the ability to prevent terrorist financing, and creating a National Security Division at the Department of Justice. Among the new version's more controversial provisions are the "roving wiretap" portion and the "sneak and peek" section. The first allows the government to get a wiretap on every phone a suspect uses, while the second allows federal investigators to get access to library, business, and medical records without a court order. 24

The USA PATRIOT Act has not been without its critics. Because of the broad language the act contains and because of what it permits federal agents to do, many fear that these new governmental powers will be abused or that the act will become a "permanent fixture" in the U.S. legal system. 25 Critics also bemoan the fact that federal agents are using the act in cases that "have nothing to do with terrorism"; an example cited is the act's money- laundering language, which allows the government to search every financial institution in the country for the records of suspected terrorists. 26 Furthermore, the treatment of Arab Americans since 9/11 has been termed a form of "persecution;' as many of those under scrutiny have been fingerprinted, photographed, detained, and deported under the act's mandatory registration program. Tensions also have been raised among Arab Americans and Muslims because hate crimes against them have increased dramatically after 9/11 Y Still, Americans seem more willing to sacrifice civil liberties in the interest of homeland security and to allow the government to use "every legal means" at its disposal to prevent further terrorist activity. 28

Electronic Communications Protection Act of 1986 (as amended) The USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 also amended the Electronic Communications Protection Act of 1986 (ECPA, at P. L. 99 - 508, 100 Stat.l848), in order to make it more effective in the fight against terrorism. It extends federal wiretap laws to new forms of communication, adds terrorist activities to the list of crimes that justify a wiretap, allows law enforcement to seize voice-mail messages when they have a warrant, and have electronic communications providers record the email addresses from messages coming in to or going out from tapped email accounts. Law enforcement can also intercept and use any information or communications left by a trespasser on someone else's computer, if the computer owner agrees. Under the Act, federal authorities need only a subpoena approved by a federal prosecutor, rather than a judge, to obtain electronic messages that are six months old or

. older; to get more recent communications, a warrant from a judge is required. Use of the ECPA was demonstrated in late -2012 with the downfall of CIA Director (and former four-star Army General) David Petraeus, who confessed to an extramarital affair with his biographer. Federal investigators can quickly gain access to, and examine e-mail accounts and computer records maintained by Internet providers if they believe a crime was committed.29 [Also see the Stored Communications Act, discussed in Chapter 14.]

Military Commissions Act of 2006 The fight against terrorism was also aided and expanded in October 2006 when President George W Bush signed Public Law 109- 366, the

C HAPTER 12 Pursuing Criminal Synd icates 317

•

Military Commissions Act (MCA) of 2006, which he hailed as "one of the most important pieces of legislation in the War on Terror:'30 Under the MCA, the president is authorized to establish military commissions to try unlawful enemy combatants, the commissions are authorized to sentence defendants to death, and defendants are prevented from invoking the Geneva Conventions as a source of rights during commission proceedings. The law contains a provision stripping detainees of the right to file habeas corpus petitions in federal court and also allows hearsay evidence to be admitted during proceedings, so long as the presiding officer determines it to be reliable. This law allows the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to continue its program for questioning key terrorist leaders and operatives-a program felt by many to be one of the most successful intelligence efforts in American history. The MCA excludes all statements obtained by use of torture, makes U.S. interrogators subject to only a limited range of "grave breaches;' and clarifies what actions would subject interrogators to liability under the existing federal War Crimes Act. 31

Fusion Centers Note that two of the following three topics of discussion that are used for combating terrorism-intelligence-led policing (ILP) and predictive policing-are described in Chapter 4, Community-Oriented Policing and Problem Solving, as they are essentially a part-and an extension-of the analysis phase of the problem-solving process. They are therefore an essential tool that, when used as a tool of and in conjunction with fusion cen- ters, can be applied to the problem of terrorism.

A number of cities and counties have partnered with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to form terrorism early warning groups or fusion centers. 32 The fusion center provides over- arching coordination of all response and counterterrorism elements within a community or metropolitan area. As information or intelligence is gathered by local and federal agencies, it is fed into the fusion center, where it is analyzed (see Figure 12-1 • ). The fusion center is a com- prehensive approach in that it allows for the analysis of information from a variety of sources. It is the most comprehensive manner by which to collect and analyze data for a particular

Roova~

Dissemination

\ Analysis

Planning and Direction

' I

Processing/ Collation

FIGURE 12-1 The Intelligence Gathering Process U.S. Department of Justice. Office of Justice Prog ram s. Th e Natio nal C rimina l Intelligence Sharing Pl a n, U.S. Department of Justice.

CHAPTER 12 Pu rsu ing Criminal Syndicates 318 T

A At fusion centers, information or intelligence is gathered and analyzed by local and federal

agencies for a particular geographical area. (Cou rtesy Wa shoe County, Ne vada, Sheriff's Office .)

geographical area. Once analyzed, terrorist threat or activity information is generated and supplied to affected constituents. The fusion centers include medical personnel and fire department personnel as well as law enforcement personnel. The medical personnel can provide the fusion center with information about suspicious diseases or illnesses-and early warning system for a biological attack -and the firefighter personnel can provide information about suspicious fires or chemical problems. The fusion center also allows for more compre- hensive planning and a better coordinated response should a terrorist event occur.

~ Street Gangs

Definition and Membership A definition of "criminal street gangs" is provided in Title 18, Sec. 521 of the United States Code, where, for they are "ongoing groups, clubs, organizations, or associations of five or more individuals that have as one of their primary purposes the commission of one or more criminal offenses:'

Street gang activities may be traced back to the early 1900s in southern California, where most gangs were small (six to twenty members) and generally formed in socially disorganized neighborhoods. Gangs were generally agreed·to be the result of disintegration of the family life, low-wage occupations, unemployment, a lack of wholesome recreational opportunities, and other socio-economic factors.

Since the 1980s gangs have exploded in membership, with estimates of approximately 1.4 million active street, prison, and motorcycle gang members comprising more than 33,000 gangs in the United States. Ethnic-based and nontraditional (i.e., hybrid) gangs have also expanded and now include African, Asian, Eurasian, Caribbean, and Middle Eastern gangs. The Northeast and Southeast regions of the United States have seen the greatest increases in gang memberships since the 1980s, but the West and Great Lakes regions now hold the greatest numbers of gang members. 33

CHAPTER 1 2 Pursuing Criminal Syndicates 319 T

Irrespective of city size, where they exist, street gangs can significantly damage a com- munity, inciting fear in citizens, dictating where they will and will not travel, and also playing a role in homicides, graffiti, intimidation, firearms transactions and violence, drug sales and use, burglaries, car thefts, vandalism, and a number of other crime problems. 34

Of course, gang members can be of any age, but "gang-banging" tends to be a young person's enterprise: about 70 percent of gang members are between the ages of fifteen and twenty-four, while only about 13 percent are older than age twenty-four. As a result, many jurisdictions report a growing problem involving juvenile gangs and violence. This problem is often attributed to the increased incarceration of older gang members as well as aggressive recruiting of juveniles in schools; young prospects have historically been highly sought after due to a belief that there is less likelihood that they will receive a harsh sen- tence if arrested, as well a:s their willingness to perform acts of violence. Recruiters often exploit the social media as well as the gangsta rap culture to facilitate their efforts. 35

In contrast to popular belief, gangs do not tend to migrate across the country to set up satellite operations; in reality, most, if migrating at all, typically form other gang operations within 100 miles of their city of origin. Possibly for this reason, gangs are basically loose- knit in nature and there tends to be little homogeneity among them; thus there is so single "model" of gangs - rather, there is a wide variety of forms . However, as a general rule, the more structured the gang, the more dangerous the gang tends to be. 36

Certainly two of the more violent and fear-inducing gangs in the United States at present are the Mexico-based La Familia and El Salvador's MS-13. La Familia is a violent, heavily armed organization that is heavily engaged in drug smuggling, money laundering, and weapons trafficking across the border into the United States. In late 2009, more than 3,000 U.S . federal agents and local police in nineteen states unleashed a massive coast- to-coast sweep against La Familia, arresting 305 reputed gang members and confiscating more than ten tons of narcotics in the United StatesY And, according to the 2009 National Gang Threat Assessment, there could be as many as 50,000 MS-13 (or Mara Salvatrucha) members worldwide, with 10,000 members in the United States; the MS-13 gang is known for its highly violent ways, and its members are involved in all kinds of illegal activities, including drugs, robbery, extortion, weapons trafficking, and murder. 38

Both the North Carolina Gang Investigators Association (NCGIA) and the New Jersey State Police provide excellent online guides and resources on their websites for learning much more about common gangs' "identifiers": colors; clothing, graffiti, hand signs, writ- ing, and symbols; and tattoos. 39

Criminal Activities Gang membership fosters criminal behavior. Studies show that youths living in high-crime areas and who belong to gangs are responsible for far more criminal acts than their non -crime counterparts; more specifically, gang members are responsible for four times as many offenses as their total population share would suggest, while gang members' violent offense rates are about seven times higher than those of youths who are not members of gangs. 40

Research has also shown that gang members who belong to older (or early-onset) gangs are far more likely to be involved in violent crimes (e.g., homicide, aggravated assault, rob - bery) and property crimes than those gangs in localities that were late-onset (i.e., forming in the last decade); the same holds true with drug distribution, where trafficking activities were far less likely to be significant problems in jurisdictions with late-onset gangs.41

Considering gang members of all ages and in all locations, even considering that gangs' criminal activities are often overstated and wax and wane, it is clear that gangs represent a significant crime problem. According to a federal report:

Criminal gangs commit nearly half of all violent crimes in many communities, and typical gang-related crimes include alien smuggling, armed robbery, assault, auto theft,

CHAPTER 12 Pursuing Criminal Syndicates 320 T

drug trafficking, extortion, fraud, home invasions, identity theft, murder, and weapons trafficking. 42

Gang members are the primary retail-level distributors of most illicit drugs. U.S . gangs also are banding with Central American and Mexican gangs to establish far-reaching drug networks as well as for smuggling of gun and illegal immigrants. Of particular concern with the drug trade is their tendency to move into suburban and rural com- munities to recruit new members, form new alliances, and even collaborate with rival gangs. 4 3

What Works? Police Responses Prevention As with any type of crime, proactively preventing a criminal act from taking place is better than having it occur and law enforcement having to reactively devote time, effort, and resources to investigate, prosecute, and incarcerate the offender. With regard to gangs, the goal of prevention is to stop youths from joining gangs, so prevention responses should target the largest segment of the problem: youths at risk for gang membership. Prevention programs, therefore, include a broad potential audience and are typically aimed at groups that pose some risk. For example, a prevention program may focus on preschool children who reside in gang neighborhoods before they show any symptoms of having joined the gang life.

A well-known police response to gangs is the Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT) program, which originated in 1991 in Phoenix, Arizona. GREAT emphasizes the acquisition of information and skills needed by students to resist peer pressure and gang influences; the curriculum contains a nine-hour curriculum offered to middle -school stu- dents, mostly seventh -graders. 44

SARA Problem-Solving Process When prevention fails, as with any attempt to engage in problem solving, after scanning the problem to determine that a problem does in fact exist (using the SARA problem-solving process discussed in Chapter 4), the next task for the police is problem analysis. This step is a crucial one, and should begin by considering how specific gang problems are being dealt with locally and the successes and shortcomings of each approach . It is also helpful to try to identify and understand the events and conditions that precede and accompany the problem. Then, a working hypothesis can be developed concerning why the problem is occurring.

The problem analysis triangle (also discussed in Chapter 4) can be useful as well-a consideration of the characteristics of offenders, places, and victims or targets as they relate to the gang problem. During the analysis, it is also helpful to identify the data to be used. Possible sources of information and data can include, but are not be limited to, the follow- ing sources:

Police computer-aided dispatch system, especially for determining hot spots, calls for service relating to gang activities, shots fired, and so on

School personnel-teachers, administrators-and students, who can provide informa- tion about gang-related incidents in schools

Hospital records, for evidence of gang-related gunshot and other wounds and the pres- ence of gang tattoos

Juvenile court records of gang membership

Jails and prisons (especially the gang status of returning offenders) .

Findings of the annual National Youth Gang Survey of police agencies concerning the extent of youth gang problems

Interviews with gang members and associates45

CHAPTER 12 Pursuing Criminal Syndicates 321 ...

After the gang problem has been clearly defined and analyzed, the police next seek to develop effective responses for dealing with it. Regardless of the scope of responses, in general, responses should include prevention, intervention, and suppression, which are discussed next.

Responses: Intervention and Suppression Responses to the local gang problem must be tailored to the analysis and typically involve some form(s) of intervention and suppression .

....,_ Intervention Intervention involves a broad approach, targeting youths who are at risk of becoming a gang memb er, in the early stages of membership, or at some stage of membership where they can be pushed out of the gang. The primary aim is to persuade these youths to aban- don the gang lifestyle or to reduce their gang-related crime.

The National Crime Prevention Council provides an overview of gang intervention: it is a coordinated effort that involves both the community and the police for reducing the likelihood that high-risk youth with become involved in gangs. This coordinated effort can also involve educators, job-training resources, parents, and community groups, and can combine efforts by those agencies with other community efforts such as neighborhood mobilization and job training for youth . For such a coordinated intervention approach to be successful, it is important that the type of gang be identified (no two gangs being alike) as well as the level of the individual's involvement in the gang. Then, police, probation personnel, and prosecutors share information about gang activity, diffuse crises that arise from gang conflict, and refer the individual to community-based services. Street outreach through community organizations and parents can also be used to supplement partnerships among agencies to make well-integrated services available to at-risk youth . Intervention is most effective when it paired with the aforementioned prevention strategies.46

....,_ Suppression: Use of Focused Deterrence Although most police agencies understand that suppression alone is not effective as a long- term gang prevention and intervention strategy, suppression tactics have a part to play in addressing gang problems. Suppression programs revolve around the goal of reducing or eliminating gang activities , typically relying on the criminal law and the collaboration of several criminal justice agencies for their success.

One approach to reducing high rates of gang and youth gun violence that has dem- onstrated success and rapidly spread across the country is modeled on one that began in Boston in May 1996, known as Operation Ceasefire, which entailed a problem-oriented approach and focused on specific places that were crime hot spots. This approach- involving local, state, and federal criminal justice agencies as well as community leaders, gang outreach workers, and public/private social service agencies-has been implemented in Chicago, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and, recently, in five California cities.47 Exhibit 12-1 • briefly describes one such project in Newport News, Virginia.

After performing an in-depth analysis of the problem- e.g., geographic location of violent incidents, demographic information on individuals involved in gun violence, and patterns of gang violence-a working group is then organized for designing and imple- menting the local strategy. This process of implementation typically includes such activities as: communicating directly with gang members a violence prevention message, linking these gang members and youth to training and employment opportunities, and coordi- nating law enforcement efforts. Law enforcement efforts include a strategy of focused deterrence that embraces a tactic termed "pulling levers"; in other words, if a youth or gang member is engaged in violent behavior and is caught with a gun during their time on

C HAPTER 12 Pursuing Criminal Synd icates 322 ~

EXHIBIT 12-1

NEW PROGRAM FOCUSES ON DETERRENCE

A new deterrence program implemented in several U.S. cities has been shown to keep drug dealers off the streets, build confidence in the police and restore high-crime neighborhoods. Usually, when drug deal- ers are arrested, soon they're back on the streets or are quickly replaced, and the neighborhood continues to decline. But under the drug-market intervention pro- gram, low-level dealers are not arrested but are invited to rehabilitate themselves.

The dealers are brought into a meeting where they are confronted by police, social workers and neighbor- hood leaders, as well as neighbors and family members. The dealers are told they will get a second chance if they agree to stop dealing and work with social services to rehabilitate themselves.

The dealers are warned that if they do not coop- erate, authorities have enough evidence to prose- cute them. Police follow up by maintaining a strong

presence in the neighborhood. A key objective is to create a peaceful, cohesive community.

The program was developed by New York-based criminologist David Kennedy. When it was deployed in several high-crime neighborhoods in High Point, N.C., in 2003, crime in those areas fell by as much as 40-50 percent. It is now being deployed in other cities, including Newport News, Va., where outcomes are not yet available.

Sources: Policing Drug Sales: Cleaning up the 'hood' The Economist, March 3, 2012 http://www.economist.com/ node/21548989; Newport News, Virginia: Using New Tools to Reduce Crime Lauren Monsen, American News and Views (U.S. Embassy), Aug. 6, 2012 http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/ article/20 12/08/20 120806134195.html#axzz2oblwGZCb; The High Point Drug Market Intervention Strategy Kennedy & Wong, National Network for Safe Communities http://www.cops.usdoj. gov /Publications/ e08097226- HighPoint. pdf

probation or parole, every available resource would be brought to bear, such as more strin- gent bail, swift prosecution, and enhanced penalties). Meanwhile, as indicated above, social services are made available to gang members to support an alternative to life in the gang. 48

This comprehensive, focused approach to deterrence has resulted in declines in youth homicides, firearm assaults, and shots- fired calls for service. In addition, typical outcomes include the gangs' drug markets being disrupted, arrests being made for outstanding war- rants, and strict enforcement of probation and federal sanctions.49

Gang Units and Civil Injunctions Across the country, many cities have responded to their gang problems by forming some type of specialized gang unit (GIU) as an initial response to major episodes of gang vio- lence. 50 Today nearly 400 of the nation's large (more than hundred officers) police agencies have such dedicated unit for addressing gang-related activities. 51 Regarding their duties and functions, these units spend the greatest percentage of time on either intelligence gathering (33 percent) or investigative functions (32 percent). About nine in ten gang units monitor gang graffiti (94 percent), track individual gang members (93 percent), monitor internet sites for communication among gang members (93 percent), engage in directed patrols (91 percent), and performed undercover surveillance operations (87 percent). 52

Some gang units also employ civil gang injunctions in their efforts. A civil gang injunc- tion is a court -ordered instrument used for such things as barring gang members from congregating in specified public areas, engaging in specified criminal and nuisance-type behaviors (such as selling drugs), driving through certain neighborhoods, loitering, curs- ing, making certain hand gestures, listening to loud music, and even talking on cell phones. This strategy has legal implications and often requires a considerable standard of proof, with law enforcement and prosecutors bearing the legal burden of developing probable cause, collecting evidence and documenting gang membership and activity. Once such information has been presented to a judge, the injunction may be granted forbidding the above types of acts. 53

CHAPTER 12 Pursuing Criminal Syndicates 323 ...

A An MS-13 suspect is handcuffed. In 2004, the FBI created the MS-13 National Gang Task

Force. A year later, the FBI helped create the National Gang Intelligence Center. (Courtesy FBI.)

Did the Responses Work? Finally, in the assessment phase of the SARA problem-solving process, the police evaluate the effectiveness of their responses. In addition to looking at such indicators as numbers of arrests, levels of reported crime and citizen complaints, clearance rates, and calls for service ( CFS), and depending on the nature of problems that were present, some types of questions that might be posed for determining whether or not the responses were effective are as follows (some questions require citizen surveys):

Were reduced calls for police service concerning gang activities realized?

Was the amount of gang-related graffiti reduced?

Were fears and perceptions reduced concerning gangs and related graffiti?

Was open- air drug-related activity by gang members visibly reduced?

Did youth gun homicides involving gang members decrease?54

~ Our National Nightmare: Drug Abuse Although the nation's drug scene recently witnessed a sea change with the legalization of marijuana (i.e., possession up to one ounce, to include a system of state-licensed grows, processors, and retail stores) for recreational use in the states of Oregon and Washington to take effect in December 2012 and January 2013, respectively, 55 advocates of legal - izing "pot" should not expect such laws to sweep the country soon. In fact, changing U.S. drug-law culture may well be more like "bending granite" than "curving wood" in the foreseeab le future. Polls show only about half ( 48 percent) of all Americans favoring

CHAPTER 12 Pursu ing Criminal Syndicates 324 ~

legalization of marijuana, and legalizing marijuana still puts state laws in direct opposition with federal drug laws 56- even though by the end of2012, eighteen states and the District of Columbia had medical marijuana laws. 57 Furthermore, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration has taken a strong position against such legalization and a dim view of its medical value. 58

Types of Usage and Social Costs: A Snapshot The following data concerning types of drug usage, arrests, crimes, and costs of drug paint a grim picture and demonstrate that the United States remains in the throes of a severe drug abuse problem.

A study by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found that an estimated 22.5 million Americans aged twelve or older are current (during the previous month) illicit drug users (illicit drugs include marijuana/hashish; cocaine, including crack; heroin; hallucinogens; inhalants; or prescription-type psychotherapeutics used nonmedically). Following is a breakdown of that illicit drug use:

Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug (18.1 million past-month users).

There are about 2.1 million current cocaine users aged twelve or older.

Hallucinogens were used in the past month by 972,000 million persons aged twelve or older, including 922,000 who had used Ecstasy.

Of the 6.1 million persons aged twelve or older who used prescription-type drugs non- medically in the past month, 5.2 million used pain relievers (such opioids act on the nervous system to relieve pain and are particularly dangerous; long-term use and abuse can lead to physical dependence and withdrawal symptoms).

There are an estimated 439,000 current users of methamphetamine aged twelve or older.

About the same proportion of illicit drug users aged eighteen or older were unem- ployed(17.2 percent) as were employed (either part- or full-time) (19.6 percent) .59

The abuse of alcohol in America should not be overlooked:

28.6 million persons age twelve or older reported driving under the influence of alcohol during the past year; the rate was highest among young adults aged eighteen to twenty- five (21.9 percent); heavy drinking was reported by 15.5 million people. 60

The direct impact of this drug and alcohol abuse on the U.S. criminal justice system is substantial when looking at apprehensions: about 1.5 million arrests by state and local agencies for drug abuse violations per year (about 82 percent of these arrests are for posses- sion, and the remainder are for trafficking). 61 These arrest figures probably reflect only the tip of the iceberg in comparison to the actual levels of manufacturing, use, and trafficking.

Furthermore, drug use fuels crime; the percentage of booked arrestees testing posi- tive for at least one illicit drug ranged from 49 percent in Washington, D.C., to 87 percent in Chicago. The most common substances present during tests, in descending order, are marijuana, cocaine, opiates, and methamphetamine.62

Certainly the economic toll on the United States due ·to this illicit drug abuse is astro- nomical. As an example, for fiscal year 2013, the federal Office of National Drug Control Policy was appropriated $25.6 billion (its previous year allocation: $25.2 billion) to reduce drug use and availability in four major policy areas: (1) substance abuse prevention, (2) substance abuse treatment, (3) domestic law enforcement, and (4) interdiction and international counterdrug support. 63

Fighting Methamphetamine The police have long been involved with meth abusers. Meth is cheap and addictive and causes a variety of physical and emotional

CHAPTER 12 Pursuing Criminal Syndicates 325 .,..

A Federal agents work abroad to stem the flow of illegal drugs into the United States. Above ,

DEA agents and Ecuadorian drug authorities seize a submarine carrying multi-ton quantities

of cocaine near the border with Colombia ; below, DEA, ATF, and Puerto Rican agents execute 70

arrest warrants in targeting a violent trafficking organization. (Cour tesy Drug Enforcement Adm inistration,

Department of Justice.)

CHAPTER 12 Pursuing Criminal Syndicates 326 T

problems. It is a serious health hazard to anyone who comes in contact with the precursor drugs used to produce it, including police, medical, and fire personnel. Although meth use is a serious problem across the nation, it has been particularly prevalent in the United States in the West and Midwest.

Indeed, training police officers in lab identification and removal is an important first step in any meth initiative. Training public works and hotel/motel staff is another successful strategy for helping to identify meth lab operations. Drug courts are an addi- tional beneficial option for the criminal justice system because they immediately expose meth-addicted individuals to treatment and provide them with a rigid structure with little tolerance for infractions. Another major part of meth initiatives involves establishing the partnerships that are essential for addressing the problem, such as those developed with prosecutors' offices, environmental protection agencies, agencies involved in cleaning up hazardous materials, child welfare and family services agencies, treatment centers, and federal drug enforcement agencies.64

The police battle against meth has been lengthy, focused, and intense; in fact, since 1994 the federal Office of Community Oriented Policing Services has funded nearly $160 million in meth related projects,65 Federal legislation has also helped by limiting sales of the nasal decongestant pseudoephedrine, and appears to have greatly reduced the number of small, clandestine methamphetamine laboratories in the United States (most states limit individuals to a daily purchase of no more than 3.2 grams, and no more than 9 grams per month, of pseudoephedrine HCl. 66 However, such legislation has also created a vast market for the cold medicine, with pill buyers recruiting homeless people and even college students to purchase the pills for them (a process known as "smurfing"),67 and driving the under- ground market for a box ofSudafed that costs about $8 to be sold to meth cooks for $100.68

Meanwhile, Mexican drug cartels have quietly filled the void in the nation's drug market created by the U.S. crackdown against meth, flooding U.S. cities with exceptionally cheap, extraordinarily potent meth from "superlabs:'69 Given these kinds of persistent efforts, the police and other agencies of criminal justice-prosecutors' offices in particular-have had to develop several new methods and tactics in their ongoing fight against meth, such as the following:

Educating community organizations and schoolchildren about meth dangers and help- ing them to form local coalitions against meth

Participating in joint state-federal efforts to investigate and prosecute meth crimes

Using their state's attorney general's office to assist county attorneys in prosecuting drug crimes that cross county borders and develop expertise in the investigation and prosecution of meth crimes

Forming multi-county antidrug task forces and "meth response teams" to help under- staffed sheriffs' offices and local police departments in investigating and dismantle multiple meth labs

Calling on the U.S. Attorneys' Offices and DEA to prosecute federal drug crimes, par- ticularly those that are larger or more sophisticated me~h crimes70

Open-Air Drug Markets Open-air drug markets represent the lowest level of the drug distribution network. We address these low-level markets, however, because of the risks posed to market participants and the harm that drug use can inflict on the entire community.

Open markets have several advantages for both buyers and sellers: Buyers know where to go in order to find the drugs they want and can weigh quality against price, and sellers are able to maximize customer access. Open-air markets also generate or contribute to a wide range of problems and disorder in the community, including traffic

CHAPTER 12 Pursuing Criminal Syndicates 327 T

congestion, noise, disorderly conduct, loitering, prostitution, robberies, burglaries, thefts from motor vehicles, fencing of stolen goods, weapons offenses, assaults, and clandestine drug labs. 71

Dealing with open-air markets presents a considerable challenge for the police. Simply arresting market participants will have little impact on reducing the size of the market or the amount of drugs consumed. However, the nature of open markets means that market participants are vulnerable both to police enforcement and to the dangers of buying from strangers, which may include rip-offs and robberies.

Following are some open-air drug activities that the police have undertaken-with a caveat by two researchers, Harocopos and Hough, that no matter which approach is taken, it is unlikely that they will be able to eradicate the open-air drug market completely;72

furthermore, a police crackdown or sweep will only be a deterrent if appropriate criminal sentences are used:

Policing the area in a highly visible fashion. A police presence (including foot patrol) may disrupt the drug market and make it inconvenient for sellers and buyers to engage in drug transactions.

Enforcing the law intensively. The effect of a crackdown is dependent on the drug mar- ket that is targeted and the amount of resources available, such as street surveillance and intelligence gathering, a hotline for area residents, and increases in drug-treatment services.

Using intelligence-led investigative work. Information from drug hotlines and local residents can help to identify and analyze a problem. In addition, any arrest may pro- duce information if officers debrief the offender, and drug buyers may lead undercover officers to drug locations.

Arresting drug buyers in "reverse stings." The reverse sting (the sale or purported sale of drugs by a government agent to the target of an investigation) serves to impact the demand side of the market and is most successful against new or occasional drug users. Miami, Florida, police found that the process of being arrested, charged, forced to appear in court, and have a vehicle impounded acted as a deterrent.

Raves A serious problem that can involve serious drug abuse is raves -dance parties that feature fast-paced, repetitive electronic music and light shows. Drug use is intended to enhance ravers' sensations and boost their energy so they can dance for long periods, usually starting late at night and going into the morning hours. Rave party problems are unique: They create a blend of attitudes, drugs, and behaviors not found in other forms of youth culture. Dealing with raves is difficult for police. On the one hand, police often face pressure from society to put an end to raves; on the other hand, raves are enormously popular (a June 2010 rave in Los Angeles, with 16,000 attendees, resulted in one death)?3 In addition, raves pose a number of concerns for police, including drug overdoses, drug trafficking, noise, persons driving under the influence, and traffic con- trol. Of particular concern is evidence that suggests Ecstasy (also known as MDMA or "Eve")-the drug most closely associated with rave parties-can cause permanent brain damage when used habitually.

To understand the extent of the local rave problem, police should conduct an analysis that answers a number of questions concerning rave incidents, locations, and manage- ment. Some police responses that have met with success include regulating rave venues to ensure basic health and safety measures are in use, encouraging property owners to exer- cise control over raves, prohibiting juveniles and adults from being admitted to the same raves, applying nuisance abatement laws where appropriate, prosecuting rave operators and

CHAPTER 1 2 Pursuing Criminal Syndicates 328 'f

property owners for drug-related offenses, and educating ravers about the risks of drug use and overexertion.74

New Ways to Get "High" -and Die: Bath Salts and "Fake Pot" Bath salts-named for their fine, crystalline appearance-are the latest designer drug in use and are synthetically made central nervous stimulants. Bath salts imitate the effects of methamphetamine, ecstasy, cocaine, and LSD, and can cause euphoria and hallucinations, and result in violence and psychotic episodes .75 They are easier to obtain-online or at head shops and convenience stores-and cheaper than cocaine or ecstasy, and they are lethal; by the end of2012 more than twenty people had died in Florida alone from ingesting bath salts.76 The use of bath salts has also been implicated in many people committing shocking acts; as reported by users themselves: A California man attacked an elderly woman with a shovel; a Pennsylvania man kicked a trooper and bit a paramedic; a Georgia man went wild at a golf course and threatened to eat people; and it is suspected that a Miami, Florida, man used bath salts when he chewed off most of a homeless man's face. 77

The number of people calling police and poison control centers about such reactions to the drug began to decline in July 2012, however, when President Obama signed into law a ban on thirty-one compounds and substances found in bath salts as well as synthetic mari- juana (see below) and hallucinogens. 78 Although that decline does not mean the bath-salt fad has ended, it may suggest that the countrywide binge is subsiding. 79

A late-2012 report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) stated that more than 11,000 drug-related emergency department visits in 2010 were due to synthetic cannabinoids (SC). Commonly known on the street as "K2" or "Spice;' these substances are not actually derived from the marijuana plant, but are reported to have the same effect as the drug. SAMHSA reported that symptoms from SC

.t. Bath salts cause some to die horrible deaths as temperatures skyrocket, causing the muscles

to break down and release toxins . (Courtesy Drug Enforcement Administra tion, Department of Justice.)

CHAPTER 12 Pursuing Criminal Syndicates 329

•

include: agitation, nausea, vomiting, tachycardia (rapid heartbeat) , elevated blood pressure,

tremor, seizures, h allucinations, p ar anoid behavior and non-responsiveness. Youths aged

two t o twenty-nine repr esented 75 percent of all emergency h o spital visits.80

Legislation signed by President Obama i n July 2012, mentioned above, also b anned

SC. Dozens of states an d local governments had already enacted such laws against these synthetic cannabinoids, which have been blamed for hundreds of em ergency r oom visits and a handful of f atalities .8 1

High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program A n initiative that prov ides additional f ederal resources t o areas most in need of help to

r educe or eliminate drug t rafficking is the High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program. In con sidering w h ether t o desi gn ate an area as a H IDTA, the fed er al Off ice of

(Courtesy Daniel W Gerard)

Career Profile Name: Daniel W. Gerard

Position: Police Captain/ Special Operations Commander

City, State: Cincinnati, Ohio

College attended: University of Cincinnati

Academic Major: Criminal Justice

How long have you occupied this position/assignment?

Seven years

How w ould you briefly describe this position/ assignment:

Special Operations consists of all citywide patrol based units that are highly specialized and do not fit neatly into a geographic patrol district. The various units that make up Special Operations include: Traffic; K9 (patroL narcot- ics detection and explosive detection); Safe Streets (vio- lent crime/gang enforcement squad); and the Violent Crime EnforcementTeam (federal firearms trafficking task force in partnership with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) and total over 100 officers.

What attracted you to this position/assignment?

The wide variety of activities the position encompasses. No two days are ever the same. One day I could be co- ordinating the traffic route for a Presidential motorcade and the next day serving multiple SWAT search warrants while dismantling a violent street gang after a lengthy investigation . Having so many different functions in one command allows me to combine their resources in non- traditional ways such as having traffic officers conduct an operating a vehicle while impaired traffic check- point in an area in which a violent street gang operates a drive through drug market. By using nontraditional ap- proaches, we can disrupt illegal activities in unexpect- ed ways and have a longer lasting positive impact than by using only traditional policing tactics.

What qualities/characteristics are most helpful for this position/assignment?

The ability to multitask and the ability to delegate less es- sential tasks to others. Being involved in so many different areas over the course of a day, the ability to effectively manage many diverse situations at once is crucial. This is not possible if you are unable to delegate. Without both of these abilities, a command officer could easily become so bogge.d down with the minor peripheral de- tails of an operation that a critical assignment could be overlooked and result in an unfortunate consequence.

How would you describe a typ ical day for one in t his position/ assignment ?

Special Operations is not a Monday to Friday 8 A .M to 4 P.M. job. I have officers who work in high risk situations, both in uniform and also in a covert capacity. The ma- jority of the units assigned to me operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. A typical work day includes: current and future operational planning meetings and case status updates with my various units; meetings with prosecu- tors about pending cases; responding as needed to manage any critical incidents that either involve my personnel or that require them to assist in the resolution of an incident; and also performing the myriad of daily administrative functions that come with a command assignment including processing a seemingly endless volume of paperwork. After work hours, I am on call and spend large amounts of time on the telephone being briefed about current operations and providing opera- tional guidance and direction as needed to iny officers.

What a dvice would you offer someone who is begin- ning their st udies of policing a nd criminal just ice?

Even if you plan to focus on one area of study, such as policing or corrections, ta ke as many courses as you can in the criminal justice areas you do not plan to spe- cialize in. Although I am in policing, I regularly interact with the court system, the correctional system, proba- tion and parole. By acquiring at least a basic knowl- edge of the other criminal justice functions, a student will be much better equipped to both make the right career choice and to ultimately operate successfully within the system as a whole upon graduat ion.

~

CHAPTER 12 Pursuing Criminal Syndicates 330 T

National Drug Control Policy considers the extent to which the area is a center for illegal drug production, manufacturing, importation, or distribution. The priorities of HIDTA are to assess regional drug threats, design strategies to combat those threats, and develop and fund initiatives to implement strategies. The program receives about $240 million per year to fund its efforts. There are now twenty-eight HIDTAs, which include approximately 16 percent of all counties in the United States and 60 percent of the U.S. population. 82

The accompanying Career Profile is provided by a commander of a Special Operations unit that works to address gang, drugs, and other problems that involve violent criminals .

....,_ Policing The Mob In April 2010, Manhattan, New York, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara announced the arrest of fourteen members and associates of the Gambino organized crime family on charges including racketeering, murder, sex trafficking, jury tampering, extortion, assault, narcot- ics trafficking, wire fraud, loansharking, and illegal gambling; Bharara added:

The mafia is not dead. It is alive and kicking. Modern mobsters may be less colorful, less flamboyant, and less glamorous than some of their predecessors, but they are still terror- izing businesses, using baseball bats, and putting people in the hospital. 83

-Bharara 's statement, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Charges Fourteen Gambino Crime Family Members and Associates with Racketeering, Murder, Sex Trafficking, and Other Crimes, U.S. Department of Justice.

Mr. Bharara's statement put to rest any notion that the Mafia (also known as the Mob, or La Cosa Nostra) has faded into oblivion or lost its appetite for sordid activities.

Imagine devoting your entire police career making few or even no arrests but, rather, devoting those years to the collection and analysis of intelligence information. Visualize yourself investigating crime by watching newspaper obituaries and appearing at funerals to log license plates and take photographs from a safe distance away from the mourners, then tracing names to the fifth cousins. Consider spending years to investigate a single case, combing through records and files that go back twenty years. Picture yourself going undercover for several years to investigate a crime organization, never knowing if or when your cover will be blown and you will be targeted for death. Enter the world of organized crime. These are only some of the unusual methods and schemes that are employed by police agents who are assigned to the underworld.

Definition, Origin, and Enterprises Herein we define organized crimes as the management and coordination of illegal enterprises connected with vice (gambling, prostitution, high-interest personal loans, por- nography, and drug trafficking) and racketeering (labor and business extortion). 84 Under this definition, several organized-crime syndicates or organizations exist in America, such as street youth gangs, prison gangs, gangs from several Asian countries (such as the Chinese Triads, some Vietnamese and Tong immigrants, and the Japanese Boryokudan), bikers, and Gypsies. Probably the oldest, most profitable, and most dangerous form of organized crime in the United States is La Coso Nostro (LCN; Italian for "this thing of ours"). 85 It is also commonly termed the Mafia.

Nor is there any scarcity of theories surrounding the origin of LCN, which is clearly shrouded in mystery and confusion. One of the earliest (and most romanticized) concerns the origin of the term Mafia in 1282, with the killing of an Italian maiden by a soldier of the French occupation; this led to a rallying cry among the Sicilians- "Morte alle Francia Italia anela'' or M.A.ELA. (meaning "Death to the French is Italy's cry")-and an underground, guerrilla-type criminal lifestyle against the French army. 86

LCN has represented a blight on the American way of life for more than a century. Indeed, following a half century of widespread mob activity and a virtual heyday during

CHAPTER 12 Pursuing Criminal Syndicates 331 T

Prohibition (1920-1933), in the early 1950s the U.S. Senate's Kefauver Committee,87 the American Bar Association, and the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice,88 among other groups and commissions, concluded that LCN was a threat to America's economy and security. All of this scrutiny culminated with Con- gress enacting the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, which prohibited the creation or management of a gambling organization involving five or more people, gave grand juries new powers, permitted detention of unmanageable witnesses, and authorized the U.S. attorney general to protect witnesses, both state and federal, and their families. 89

Even with all this public scrutiny, however, inquiries into traditional organized crime90

have often failed the public due to the Mob's underlying goals of maintaining secrecy and avoiding the limelight at all costs. Indeed, the Mob's primary objective- aside from glean- ing illicit profits-has been to remain invisible; this is the organization's law of omerta, which prohibits publicly speaking or divulging information about certain activities, espe- cially the activities of the criminal organization.91

Many Sicilian and Italian LCN immigrated to the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s, maintaining their criminal lifestyle of intimidation and force. It has been argued that organized crime existed even in the Wild West, focusing on the crimes of gam- bling, prostitution, robbery, and cattle rustling.92

The Mob in Popular Culture Today, and for at least a half century, LCN is an immensely popular topic for book authors as well as the print and electronic media. The recent and very successful television pro- grams such as "Mob Wives"93 and The Sopranos, and such movies as The Untouchables, Blood Ties, Scarface, Th e Godfather trilogy, Goodfellas, Donnie Bras co, Gatti, and Casino are but a sample of the genre; many of these portrayals of organized criminals have romanti- cized the Mob and made it difficult to discern fact from fiction, valid from invalid. (Today one can even "be the mobster" with an action/adventure video game entitled "Mafia Wars;' where violence is a central theme and every completed mission of death and mayhem leads to a rise up the family tree.94)

LCN families have a formally organized nature (see Figure 12-2 • ) consisting of the El Capo (or "godfather"), Sotto Capo ("underboss"), the consigliere ("counselor"), caporegi- mas ("lieutenants" or enforcers), and the soldatos (or "soldiers"). The major obstacle to investigating and apprehending these criminals is that they shun the public spotlight. In fact, their primary, centuries-old code of honor is that of omerta - silence.

Members Of LCN Loathe Unwelcome Attention For The Most Part; It Has Been Said that it is almost as if the Mafiosi are products of parthenogenesis-as if they just arose out of the dust, like the mythical phoenix bird. When confronted by a police officer and asked ques- tions about himself (LCN is an all-male organization), he seems to have no roots, parentage, or any other background that the police can maintain as intelligence information.

Successful Police Initiatives For forty years, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover denied that LCN even existed (it has long been believed-although never proven-that Hoover was compromised by LCN figures who possessed photographs and other documentation of his alleged homosexuality). As a result, until very recently the LCN had a virtual chokehold on America, being involved in killing for hire, extortion, loan sharking, money laundering, narcotics, prostitution, smuggling, bookmaking, bribery, business infiltration, embezzlement, hijacking, horse- race fixing, racketeering, pornography, bank fraud, and fencing. By the 1960s the LCN's influence extended from America's largest labor unions into trucking, construction, longshoring, waste disposal, gambling, and garment making; it had grown into a multi- billion-dollar syndicate of criminal enterprises run by twenty-six "families" nationwide.95

CHAPTER 12 Pursuing Criminal Syndicates 332 T

I

Boss

I -- Consigliere

<Counselor)

Caporegima (Lieutenant)

Corruption: Police and public officials

Caporegima (Lieutenant>

Underboss

Caporegima <Lieutenant)

Soldiers <Members grouped under lieutenants)

Caporegima (Lieutenant>

Through threats, assault, and murder, enforce discipline

over members, nonmembers, and fronts on orders from leader

With and through nonmember associates and fronts-participate

in, control, or influence

~

Caporegima <Lieutenant>

Exercising control in multistate area

Legitimate Industry Food products

Illegal Activities Gambling (numbers, policy,

Realty Restaurants Garbage disposal Produce Garment manufacturing Bars and taverns Waterfront Securities Labor unions Vending machines Others

dice, bookmaking) Narcotics Loan-sharking Labor racketeering Extortion Alcohol Others

FIGURE 12-2 Organizational Chart for a Mafia Family

Beginning in the mid -1980s, however, the FBI spearheaded an unprecedented assault on LCN, putting away two generations of godfathers on racketeering charges. That initia- tive continues today and has met with tremendous success toward dealing with this very elusive group.

How has this success been obtained? Through tenacity, hard work, and some luck-and for three very practical reasons:

The expanded use of electronic eavesdropping ("wiretapping"). With federal agents listening in on more conversations each year, mobsters are forced to operate in a cli- mate of constant suspicion. Cooperation between federal and state law enforcement authorities also speeds up convictions. Furthermore, the Internal Revenue Service can legally share information, enabling it to assist in complicated tax cases in almost two- thirds of all organized crime prosecutions.

The use of informants. A significant tool in the toppling of Mob kingpins has been the use of former gangsters who have proved willing to violate the code of omerta, turning

CHAPTER 12 Pursuing Criminal Syndicates 333 ..

state's evidence against their old cronies. More youthful gangsters do not possess the level of loyalty to the family their ancestors did, and government prosecutors have managed to exploit this new, less-than-loyal breed of Mafiosi. The willingness of some hoodlums to defy the Mafia is also partly due to the existence of the Federal Witness Protection Program, within the U.S. Marshals Service, which helps people move to dif- ferent locations and acquire new identities and jobs.

The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). The single most important piece of legislation ever enacted against organized crime, RICO defines racketeering in a very broad manner, includes many offenses that do not ordinarily violate a federal statute, and attempts to prove a pattern of crimes conducted through an organization. Under RICO, it is a separate crime to belong to an enterprise that is involved in a "pattern of racketeering:'

For these reasons, in the new millennium the LCN, once described as "bigger than U.S. Steel" by mobster Meyer Lansky, has lost much of its sway-and its members. In late 2007 in Chicago, three senior-citizen mobsters were locked up for murders committed a genera- tion ago; in Florida, where a ninety-seven-year-old mafioso was imprisoned for racketeer- ing; and in New York, where an eighty-something-year-old boss pleaded guilty to charges linked to the garbage industry and union corruption. 96

Although at its peak, in the late 1950s, more than two dozen mob families operated nationwide, today LCN families in strongholds like Cleveland, Los Angeles, and Tampa are gone, and it is in serious decline even in New York City-where two of five crime families are run in absentia by bosses who are in prison. Mob executions also are a thing of the past; the last boss murdered was in 1985, New York's last mob shooting war occurred in 1992.97

The Mob's ruling commission has not met in years. Membership in key cities is dwin- dling, while the number of mob turncoats is soaring; the majority of those who are now arrested immediately want to try to cut a deal. The number of "snitches" is enormous-and growing with each indictment; there is no more secret society, according to a spokesperson for the FBI's Organized Crime Section. 98

Sum mary This chapter has focused on four areas of criminality that-because each involves group criminal behavior in the form of a syndicate-are particularly troublesome and challenging for today's police and that consume a tremendous proportion of their resources: terrorism, street gangs, illicit drugs, and La Cosa Nostra. Emphasis for each of these areas was placed on describing the nature of each problem, the extent of its effects on society, and several police responses for coping with each of them.

Perhaps a point that needs to be underscored is that these three problems are not found to the same degree or depth from state to state, city to city. Although police work generally tends to be very much the same from region to region and jurisdiction to jurisdiction, the threat of terrorism, gang activities, and drug problems will differ and will require unique approaches in venues that are dissimilar. The potential dangers of terrorist attacks, gangs, and drugs that are posed to a tourist mecca such as Las Vegas will be quite different in kind and scope than those posed for a hub of business and industry such as Chicago. The police, to borrow a phrase, must "put on different faces for different people:'

Related to that reality is another fact: The police will be compelled to adapt their train- ing and operations so as to cope with these problems. As society becomes more diverse, the police will continue to face new challenges that rise to the level of the four posed in this chapter (and in the following chapter, which deals with crimes involving youth, il- legal immigrants, homeless, and hate; although perhaps not carrying the potential for

CHAPTER 12 Pursuing Criminal Syndicates 334 ...

societal disasters of a magnitude such as those discussed in this chapter, these problems still command a great deal of attention, resources, and training).

It is of utmost importance that police officers begin receiving adequate training and education to allow them to be prepared for these sorts of crimes, as each can also involve cybercrimes, on the Internet.

Key Terms

active shooter High-Intensity Drug Trafficking organized crime predictive policing bioterrorism

cyberterrorism domestic terrorism Electronic Communications

Area (HIDTA) program Incident Command System (ICS) La Cosa Nostra

The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) Mafia

Protection Act of 1986 focused deterrence fusion center

methamphetamine (meth) Military Commissions Act

raves street gang terrorism (MCA)

gang intelligence unit (GIU)

National Incident Management System (NIMS)

USA PATRIOT Act

Review Questions

1. What are the three types of terrorism? 2. What are the USA PATRIOT Act, the Electronic

Communications Protection Act, and the Military Commissions Act, and how do these pieces oflegisla- tion benefit police authorities in their efforts to thwart terrorism?

3. What are the major portions of the National Incident Management System?

4. How do cyberterrorism and bioterrorism present a particularly ominous terroristic threat to U.S. com- munities, and what would be the police role and func- tions in the case of such attacks?

5. How are police trained to respond to critical incidents involving active shooters at scenes of mass killings, and why?

6. What are the FBI's new investigative methods for fighting terrorism?

7. How can fusion centers help to fight terrorism?

Learn by Doing

1. Terrorists would prefer to attack critical targets- several of which exist in nearly any city or county. You, as a lieutenant in your local police agency, have been assigned to your countywide fusion center. The captain

8. What are some forms of organized crime besides the Mafia?

9. How did La Cosa Nostra originate, and what have tradi- tionally been its preferred forms of criminal behavior?

10. How would you describe the three very successful po- lice methods that have been developed to investigate and prosecute mobsters?

11. What is the nature, cause, and extent of the nation's gang problems, and what are some options used by the police to deal with gang members?

12. How would you describe this nation's drug problem and the part that methamphetamine plays in it?

13. How does HIDTA work to assist a community to combat drug crimes?

14. What is meant by open-air drug markets and raves, and what are the police doing to control these problems?

15. What are "bath salts;' and how have they proven to be a serious problem in the U.S.?

who oversees the unit informs you that your first task is to identify all critical targets; then, once identified, the center must consider responses for the time when a terrorist attack or other significant event occurs.

CHAPTER 12 Pursuing Criminal Syndicates 335 ...

a. What types or categories of critical infrastructure should concern you?

b. What structures in your county do you feel should be listed as critical targets?

c. Might local politics come into play when develop- ing this list, especially if someone's business is (or is not) included? If so, how will you deal with it?

d. What should your fusion center do once this list is compiled?

2. You are a small-town police chief. Early one morn - ing- although you don't yet know it-a man rows his small fishing boat, containing a duffel bag and two fishing rods, down the remote side of a river that runs through your city. After a slow, thirty-minute ride, the fisherman approaches the dam's spillway. He then removes four interconnected backpacks from the duffel bag and lowers them into the water along the sloping spillway. A button on a control device is depressed, and a large explosion is heard for miles. The underwater explosion blows a massive hole in the earthen wall, leading to a huge avalanche of water carving a wide chasm in the dam. Within minutes, the first call of the dam break reaches you; a fran - tic scramble ensues as media and emergency rescue teams begin to alert everyone living downstream. Re- ports are also quickly coming in about people drown - ing near the dam. People are in a state of panic and

Notes

1. David Shipler, "Terrorist Plots, Hatched by the F.B.I.;' April28, 2012, http:/ /www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/ opinion/ sunday I terrorist- plots- bel ped -along- by- the-fbi.html?pagewanted=all (accessed November 2, 2013).

2. Chris Barth, "FBI Thwarts Terrorist Plot To Bomb NY Federal Reserve;' October 17, 2012, http://www. forbes.com/ sites/ chrisbarth/20 12/10/17 /fbi -disables - 1 000- pound-bomb- thwarts -terrorist -plot -against- ny-federal-reserve/ (accessed November 2, 2013).

3. Scott Shane and Eric Schmitt, "Qaeda Plot to Attack Plane Foiled, U.S. Officials SaY:' The New York Times, May 7, 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/08/ world/ middleeast/ us-says -terrorist- plot- to-attack- plane-foiled.html (accessed November 2, 2013).

4. Mosi Secret, "Man Convicted of a Terrorist Plot to Bomb Subways Is Sent to Prison for Life;' The New York Times, November 16, 2012, http://www. nytimes.com/20 12/11/17 /nyregion/adis-medunjanin -

trying frantically to escape. Several miles of roads have been wiped out.

Your task: Consider the kinds of advance plan- ning that should have been done to prepare for such a situation. Also, what would be the initial duties and responsibilities of law enforcement and other first- response personnel? The types of technologies and equipment needed? Public information responsibilities? What multiagency coordination must be accomplished?

3. Your criminal justice professor is planning a class debate on the USA PATRIOT Act. Pick a side, and de- velop your arguments.

4. To better grasp the methods of, and problems con- fronted by, the police in this chapter's subject matter, you could do no better than to seek out and inter- view those individuals who work in these arenas on a daily basis (e.g., for terrorism: federal, state, or local officers assigned to homeland security or a regional fusion center; for organized crime, gang, or drug in- vestigations: federal or state investigators assigned to those areas). Better yet, if your interests are keen in any one of these areas, you could attempt to accomplish a university-sponsored internship with one of those agencies or, perhaps, offer to volunteer your time at the agency (be forewarned, however: either of these latter objectives would likely involve a thorough and lengthy background check prior to your being accepted).

convicted-of-subway-bomb-plot- gets -life- sentence. html?_r=O (accessed November 3, 2013) .

5. Colin Miner, Liz Robbins, and Eric Eckholm, "F.B.I. · Says Oregon Suspect Planned 'Grand' Attack;' The New York Times, November 27, 2010, http:// www.nytimes.com/20 10/ 11/28/us/28portland. html ?pagewanted=all&_r= 1 & (accessed November 2, 2013).

6. Shipler, "Terrorist Plots, Hatched by the F.B.C' 7. Kevin Johnson, USA Today, "Terror Arrest Highlights

New York's Spot on Target;' October 18, 2012, http:/ I www. usa today. com/ story/ news/nation/20 12/10/ 18/terror-arrest-new-york-city/1641109/ (accessed November 2, 2013) .

8. The Washington Post, "Faces of the Fallen;' http:// apps .washingtonpost.com/national!fallen/ (accessed November 2, 2013).

9. Kimberley Amadeo, "What Are the Facts About the War on Terror Costs?" About. com US Economy, http:/ I

CHAPTER 12 Pursu ing Crimina l Syndicates 336 T

useconomy.about.com/od/usfederalbudget/f/War_on_ Terror_Facts.htm (accessed November 3, 2013).

10. Quoted in M. K. Rehm and W R. Rehm, "Terrorism Preparedness Calls for Proactive Approach;' Police Chief67 (December 2000): 38-43.

11. D. Westneat, "Terrorists Go Green;' US. News and World Report, June 4, 2001, p. 28.

12. J. F. Lewis, Jr., "Fighting Terrorism in the 21st Centu- ry;' FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin 68 (March 1999): 3.

13. Ibid., p. 3. 14. K. Strandberg, "Bioterrorism: A Real or Imagined

Threat?'' Law Enforcement Technology (June 2001): 88-97.

15. D. Rogers, "A Nation Tested: What Is the Terrorist Threat We Face and How Can We Train for It?" Law Enforcement Technology (November 2001): 16-21.

16. "With Biochem Terror No Longer 'Unthinkable; NYPD Gets ReadY:' Law Enforcement News (Spring 2004) : 1, 13.

17. Meghan Hoyer and Brad Heath, "Mass Killings Occur in USA Once Every Two Weeks;' USA TODAY, December 19, 2012, http://www.usatoday. com! story I news/ nation/20 12/12/18/ mass- killings - common/1778303/(accessed November 21, 2013) .

18. "Shoot First: Columbine Tragedy Transformed Police Tactics:' USA TODAY, Aprill9, 2009, http: // usatoday30 . usatoday.com/ news/nation/2009-04-19 - columbine-police-tactics_N.htm (accessed November 2, 2013).

19. Ibid. 20. Michael Melia, "Newtown First Responders Carry

Heavy Burdens:' Associated Press, December 20, 2012, http:/ /news .yahoo.com/newtown -first- responders-carry-heavy-burdens-205638335.html (accessed November 2, 2013)

21. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, National Incident Management System (Washington, DC: Author, March 2004), pp. viii, ix.

22. J. Buntin, "Disaster Master;' Governing (December 2001) : 34-38.

23. Gary Peck and Laura Mijanovich, "Give Us Security While Retaining Freedoms:' Reno Gazette Journal, August 28,2003, p. 9A.

24. "House Approves Patriot Act Renewal;' www.cnn. com/2006/POLITICS/03/07 /patriot. act (accessed November 5, 2013) .

25. Peck and Mijanovich, "Give Us Security While Retaining Freedoms;' p. 9A.

26. Michael Isikoff, "Show Me the Money;' Newsweek, December 1, 2003, p. 36.

27. Lorraine Ali, "We Love This Country;' Newsweek, April 7, 2003.

28. John Ashcroft, quoted in Sharon Begley, "What Price Security?" Newsweek, October 1, 2001, p. 58.

29. See Charles Doyle, "Privacy: An Overview of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act;' March 30, 2011, http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41733 . pdf (accessed November 3, 2013); Richard Lardner, "Not That Hard for Authorities to Get to Your Email;' Associated Press, November 13, 2012, http://bigstory. ap.org/ article/ not- hard -authorities -get -your-email (accessed November 13, 2013).

30. Jeannie Shawl, "Bush Signs Military Commissions Act;' Jurist: Legal News and Research, http:/ I jurist.org/paperchase/2006/1 0/bush -signs -military- commissions-act.php (accessed November 5, 2013) .

31. Ibid. 32 . J. Sullivan, "Terrorism Early Warning Groups: Re-

gional Intelligence to Combat Terrorism;' in Home- land Security and Terrorism, ed. R. Howard, J. Forest, and J. Moore (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006), pp. 235-245.

33. U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of In- vestigation, National Gang Threat Assessment 2011: Emerging Trends (Washington, DC: National Gang Intelligence Center, 2011), p. 9, http://www.fbi.gov/ stats-services/publications/20 11-national-gang-threat- assessment/20 11-national-gang-threat-assessment- emerging-trends (accessed November 5, 2013).

34. U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of In- vestigation, National Gang Threat Assessment 2011: Emerging Trends, p. 11 .

35. Ibid., pp. 9- 10. 36. James C. Howell and Arlen Egley, Jr., (2005, June).

Gangs in Small Towns and Rural Counties (Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2005), http:/ /www.nationalgangcenter.gov/ Content/ Documents/Gangs -in -Small-Towns -and- Rural-Counties.pdf (accessed November 5, 2013); also see: U.S. Department ofJustice, Bureau ofJustice Assistance, History of Street Gangs in the United States (Washington, DC: Author), http://www. nationalgangcenter.gov/Content/Documents/History- of-Street-Gangs.pdf (accessed November 5, 2013).

.37. James McKinley, Jr., "U.S. Arrests Hundreds in Raids on Drug Cartel;' New York Times, www.nytimes. com/2009/10/23/us/23bust.html (accessed Novem- ber 5, 2013) .

38. U.S . Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of In - vestigation, ''A Courageous Victim: Taking a Stand Against MS -13;' www.fbi.gov/page2/may09/ms13_ 050109.html (accessed November 5, 2013).

39. For the NCGIA site, see http:/ /www.ashevillenc. gov/Portals/0/city-documents/police/policeservices/

CHAPTER 12 Pursuing Criminal Syndicates 337 T

NCGangAwareness.pdf; for the NJSP site, see: http:// www.senatenj .com/uploads/ district9 /know- the- signs2.pdf (accessed November 5, 2013) ..

40. U.S . Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice Programs, Gang Prevention, http: / /www.ojjdp.gov/ mpg/progTypesGangPrevention.aspx (accessed November 6, 2013).

41. National Gang Center, Review of Risk Factors for juve- nile Delinquency and Youth Gang Involvement, http:/ I www. nationalgangcen ter. gov I SPT I Risk-Factors/ Research-Review-Criteria (accessed November 6, 2013).

42. Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Gang Threat Assessment 2011: Emerging Trends, p. 15.

43. Ibid., p. 11. 44. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Pro-

grams, National Institute of Justice, Evaluating G.R.E.A. T : A School-Based Gang Prevention Pro- gram, pp. 1-7, www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/198604.pdf (accessed November 5, 2013).

45. Scott H. Decker, Strategies to Address Gang Crime: A Guidebook for Local Law Enforcement (Washington, DC: U.S Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (April 2008), pp. 21-23, http:/ /www.cops.usdoj.gov/ Publications/e060810142Gang-book-web.pdf (ac- cessed November 4, 2013).

46. National Crime Prevention Council, Strategy: Gang Prevention through Community Intervention with High-risk Youth , http: / / 74.205.83.203:8181/NCPC/ training/topics/violent -crime- and- personal- safety I strategies/ strategy -gang- prevention- through -com- munity-intervention-with-high-risk-youth (accessed November 14, 2013).

47. David M. Kennedy, Anthony A. Braga, and Anne M. Piehl, Reducing Gun Violence: The Boston Gun Proj- ect's Operation Ceasefire (Washington, D.C.: National Institute of Justice, 2001), https:/ /www.ncjrs.gov/ pdffilesllnij/18874l.pdf (accessed November 4, 2013); also see State of California, Governor's Office of Gang and Youth Violence Policy, "Safe Commu- nity Partnerships;' http:/ /www.sgc.ca.gov/hiap/docs/ publications/issue_briefs/Health_and_Public_Safe- ty.pdf (accessed November 4, 2013) .

48. Ibid. 49. Ibid. 50. D. L. Weisel and E. Painter, The Police Response to

Gangs: Case Studies of Five Cities (Washington, D.C.: Police Executive Research Forum, 1997).

51. Lynn Langton, Gang Units in Large Local Law En- forcement Agencies, 2007 (Washington, D.C. : U.S .

Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, October 2010), p. 1, http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/ pub/pdf/gulllea07.pdf (accessed November 4, 2013).

52. Ibid. 53. Ibid., p . 10. 54. Decker, Strategies to Address Gang Crime: A Guide-

book for Local Law Enforcement, p. 37. 55. Gene Johnson, "Strategy, Timing Key to States' Pot

Legalization;' Associated Press, ABC News.com, December 2, 2012, http:/ /bigstory.ap.org/article/ strategy- timing-key -states-pot -legalization (accessed December 3, 2013).

56. Susan Page, "Public to feds: Back off state pot laws;' USA Today , December 7, 2012, http://usatoday30. usatoday.com/NEWS / usaedition/20 12-12-07- Poll- Peds- should- back- off- when- states-legalize- pot_ ST_U.htm (accessed November 1, 2013).

57. ProCon.org, "18 Legal Medical Marijuana States and DC;' http :/ / medicalmarijuana.procon.org/ view. resource. php?resourceiD=000881 (accessed November 3, 2013).

58. See The DBA Position on Marijuana (January 2011 ), http:/ /www.justice.gov/dea/ docs/marijuana_ position_201l.pdf (accessed November 2, 2013).

59. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Ad- ministration, "Results from the 2011 National Sur- vey on Drug Use and Health: Summary of National Findings;' pp. 1-4, http:/ /www.samhsa.gov/ data/ NSDUH/ 2k11Results/ NSDUHresults201l.pdf (ac- cessed November 1, 2013).

60. Ibid., pp. 30- 31. 61. U.S. Department ofJustice, Federal Bureau oflnvesti-

gation, Uniform Crime Reports, Crime in the United States 2012: "Persons Arrested;' http:/ /www.fbi.gov/ about- us/ cjis/ ucr I crime- in- the- u.s / 20 12/ crime- in- the- u.s.- 20 12/persons-arrested/persons-arrested (accessed November 1, 2013).

62. Office of National Drug Control Policy, "New Study Reveals Scope of Drug and Crime Connection; As Many as 87 Percent of People Arrested for Any Crime Test Positive for Drug Use;' May 28, 2009, www . whitehousedrugpolicy.gov I news/press09 /052809. html (accessed November 5, 2013).

63. Office of National Drug Control Policy, National Drug Control Strategy, "The National Drug Control Budget: FY 2013 Funding Highlights;' http://www. whitehouse.gov/ ondcp/the-national-drug-control- budget-fy-2013-funding-highlights (accessed No- vember 1, 2013).

64. Ibid.

CHAPTER 12 Pursuing Criminal Syndicates 338 ...

65. Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, "COPS History;' http:/ /www.cops.usdoj.gov/default. asp?item=44 (accessed November 3, 2013).

66. David Kroll, "Do Pseudoephedrine Sales Predict the Number of Meth Labs in Your Community?" Forbes, October 16, 2012, http: //www.forbes.com/sites/ davidkroll /2 0 12 / 10 / 16 / do-pseudoephedrine- sales- predict- the-n umber- of- meth -labs- in- your- community/ (accessed November 3, 2013).

67. Jim Salter, "Meth Flourishes Despite Tracking Laws;' CNSNews .com, http:/ /cnsnews.com/news/article/ meth- flourishes-despite- tracking-laws (accessed November 3, 2013).

68. Judy Keen, "Missouri grapples with one of the USA's worst meth problems;' USA Today, December 21, 2011, http:/ /usatoday30 . usatoday.com/ news/ nation/ story/20 11-12-20/ meth-lab-missouri/52132328 / 1 (accessed November 3, 2013).

69. Jim Salter, "Mexican Cartels Using 'Superlabs' to Flood U.S. with Cheap Meth;' Associated Press, October 11 , 2012, http://www.standard.net/ stories/20 12/10/11/ mexican -cartels- using-superlabs- flood-us-cheap-meth (accessed November 23, 2013) .

70. Adapted from Illinois Attorney General, "Strategies for Fighting Meth;' http:/ /illinoisattorneygeneral. gov/methnet/fightmeth/law.html (accessed Novem- ber 3, 2013) .

71. Alex Harocopos and Mike Hough, Drug Dealing in Open-Air Markets (Washington, DC: U.S. Depart- ment of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, January 2005), p. 1.

72. Ibid., pp. 21-22. 73. Michael S. Scott, Rave Parties (Washington, D.C.:

U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, 2002), p. 1.

74. Ibid., pp. 1-2, 13- 14. 75. Jaclyn O'Malley, "The New High: 'Bath Salts'," Reno

Gazette Journal, March 21, 2012, pp. 1, 4A. 76. Jessica Vander Vel de, ''As Florida Bath Salts Deaths Rise,

Drug Enforcers Stymied;' Tampa Bay Times, October 14, 2012, http:/ /www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety I as- florida- bath -salts- deaths- rise-drug -enforcers- stymied/1256057 (accessed November 3, 2013). '

77. Ibid. 78. Senator Charles E. Schumer, "Schumer Legislation

Banning Bath Salts and 29 Other Deadly Synthetic Substances Signed into Law Today by President Obama;' Press Release, July 9, 2012, http://www. schumer.senate.gov/record.cfm ?id=33 7207 (accessed November 3, 2013).

79. Michael McLaughlin, "Bath Salts Incidents Down Since DEA Banned Synthetic Drug;' Huffington

Post, September 4, 2012, http://www.huffington- post.com/20 12/09 /04/bath -salts- ban_n_1843420. html (accessed November 2, 2013); also see Lee Ferran, "DEA Announces Emergency Ban on 'Bath Salts:" September 7, 2011, http://abcnews.go.com/ Blotter /bath- salts- de a- announces- emergency- ban/ story?id= 14467134#. UEEgWaN 62So (accessed November 3, 2013).

80. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Admin- istration, "First-of-its-kind Report Finds that Street Forms of 'Synthetic Marijuana' Products Linked to Thousands of Hospital Emergency Departments Visits Each Year;' December 4, 2012, http://www. samhsa.gov/ newsroom/ advisories/ 1212040915.aspx (accessed November 5, 2013).

81. Joel Rose, "Fake Pot Is a Real Problem For Reg- ulators;' NPR, July 12, 2012, http://www.npr. org/20 12/07/1 2/ 156615024/ fake-pot -is-a-real-prob- lem-for-regulators (accessed November 5, 2013).

82. Office of National Drug Control Policy, National Drug Control Strategy-FY 2012 Budget Summary, p. 2., http:/ /www.hsdl.org/?view&did=6522 (accessed November 23, 2013); see also Office of National Drug Control Policy, "High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) Program;' http://www.whitehouse. gov I ondcp/high- intensity -drug- trafficking -areas- program(accessed November 3, 2013).

83. United States Attorney, Southern District of New York, Press Release, "Manhattan U.S. Attorney Charges Fourteen Gambino Crime Family Members and As- sociates with Racketeering, Murder, Sex Trafficking, and Other Crimes;' http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/ MSNBC/Sections/NEWS/ gambinoarrestspr. pdf ( ac- cessed November 3, 2013).

84. Gary W Potter, Criminal Organizations: Vice, Rack- eteering, and Politics in an American City (Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, 1994), p. 116.

85. This term for the Mob was used often from January 1957 to March 1960 by the United States Senate's "Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor or Management Field;' popularly known as the McClellan Committee, which examined the extent to which criminal or other improper practices were engaged in the field of labor management. See Final Report of the Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor or Management Field, United States Senate, pursuant to S. Res. 44 and 249, 86th Congress (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1960).

86. New York Times Archives, "Origin of the Term Mafia;' query.nytimes. com/ gst/ abstract.html ?res=9 D05E1D61239E033A25750COA9639C94609ED7CF

CHAPTER 12 Pursuing Criminal Syndicates 339 T

(accessed March 5, 2013); also see Henner Hess, Ma- 92. James N. Gilbert, "Organized Crime on the Western fia and Mafiosi: Origin, Power, and Myth (New York: Frontier" (paper presented at an annual conference New York University Press, 1998); Claire Sterling, of the Western Social Science Association, Oakland, Octopus: The Long Reach of the Sicilian Mafia (New CA, April27, 1995), p. 1. York: Touchstone Books, 1991); and Gaia Servadio, 93. See Mary Billard, "Silent Partners No Longer;' The Mafioso : A History of the Mafia from Its Origins to the New York Times, March 28, 2012, http://www.ny- Present Day (New York: Stein and Day, 1976). times.com/20 12/03/29 /fashion/with -mob- wives-

87. United States Senate, "Kefauver Crime Committee silent - partners - no-longer.html ?pagewanted=all Launched;' www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/ (accessed November 4, 2013) . min ute/Kefa uver _Crime _ Commi ttee_ Launched. 94. IGN.com, "Mafia Wars;' http:/ /www.ign.com/wikis/ htm (accessed November 5, 2013); the official name mafia-wars (accessed November 5, 2013). of the committee was the "Special Committee to In- 95. See, for example, J. R. de Szigethy, "Blackmail in vestigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce:' America: A Dark History;' www.americanmafia.

88. President's Commission on Law Enforcement and com/feature_articles_274.html (accessed November Administration of Justice, Task Force Report: Orga- 5, 2013); Christian Lehmann-Haupt, "Books of The nized Crime (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Times; Catalogue of Accusations Against J. Edgar Printing Office, 1967). Hoover," http :/ /www.nytimes.com/1993/02/ 15/

89. Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, Pub.L. 91- books/books- of- the- times- catalogue -of-accusa- 452, 84 Stat. 922 (October 15, 1970). tions-against-j -edgar-hoover.html (accessed March 5,

90. This article focuses on "traditional" organized crime, 2013); David E. Kaplan, "Getting It Right: The FBI which is associated with Italian-American and Sicil- and the Mob;' US. News and World Report, June 18, ian crime families, as opposed to "nontraditional" 2001, p. 20. organized crime, which is associated with the newer 96. Larry McShane, "Crime's Fraying Families;' Seattle Times, emerging groups, such as outlaw motorcycle gangs, http:/ I seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2003977818 _ Chinese triads, and youth gangs. mafia27.html (accessed March 5, 2013).

91. Umberto Santino, "Mafia and Mafia-Type Organi- 97. Ibid. zations in Italy;' www.centroimpastato.it/otherlang/ 98. Ibid. mafia-in -italy.php3 (accessed November 5, 2013).

CHAPTER 12 Pursuing Criminal Syndicates 340 T