Political and White Collar Crime Terrorism Crimes of

Political and White Collar Crime Terrorism Crimes of the Powerful

Terrorism • Definitions Vary Widely – “The use of violence to influence the political, social, or religious attitudes and/or behaviors of others” – “Premeditated, politically motivated violence, designed to spread fear and perpetrated against civilians” – “Defined in the Code of Federal Regulations as “the unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives” (28 C. F. R. Section 0. 85). ”

“START” DATA • National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Response to Terrorism – University of Maryland • Convergence of several databases + new additions from media – What qualifies: • Intend to coerce/intimidate/convey message beyond immediate victims • Aimed at attaining political/social/religious goal • Context outside of legitimate warfare – Almost 100, 000 terrorist incidents between 1970 and 2010 • 43, 000 bombings, 14, 000 assassinations, and 4, 700 kidnappings

From START data • Terrorism events have declined substantially since the 1970 s – Turbulence of late 1960 s-1970 s – Left Wing (Weathermen) and Right Wing (White supremacists) • The terrorist events that have occurred have been much larger in magnitude – Oklahoma city bombing – First WTC bombing – 9/11 • Roughly one half of terrorism cases world wide, and one-third in the U. S. remain unsolved

Terrorist attacks on U. S. soil Salmonella Poison 1970 1980 1993 OK WTC bomb 1990 9/11 2000 2010

Types of Terrorism • Domestic terrorism – U. S. • Left Wing (Weathermen, Eco-Terrorism) • Right Wing (Militias, Timothy Mc. Veigh) • International terrorism – 9/11 attack • State terrorism – Against domestic or foreign “enemies” • German atrocities against Jews circa WWII

Terrorism and the Media • Scholars have pointed out that there is a natural match – Terrorists depend on media • Use event to coerce larger audience: high visibility targets, graphic acts, pre-event contact with media outlets, post-event videos – Media as a natural venue for terrorism • Dramatic, violent, visual, timely (vs. wars which are protracted, highly complex…) • HIGH RATINGS

Response to Terrorism • Difficult balance – Aggressive response detection, deterrence – Concern civil rights, overreaching • Examples – USA Patriot Act • Warrantless search and seizures, wiretapping, etc. – Global War on Terror • Interrogation techniques, use of drones to assassinate, etc.

Situational Crime Prevention • Reduce opportunities for offending • Gains in technology, training, and enforcement techniques likely played a role in the reduction of terrorist attacks – Monitoring of bomb-making materials, airport security, FBI stings, etc.

Boston Bombing in Context • • Domestic or Foreign? Media Coverage Response Situational Crime Prevention – Pressure cooker bombs with kitchen timers – 26 mile course, densely packed with spectators

Crimes of the Powerful • Organized Crime • White Collar Crime – Occupational Crime – Corporate Crime

Organized Crime • Criminal activity committed by groups with some manner of formalized structure – Primary goal is typically money and power • Some ambiguity here – Street gangs versus drug cartels – Terrorist groups

Just how organized is it? • The Alien Conspiracy Model (foreign criminals) – Highly organized and centralized – Sicilian “Mafia” (La Cosa Nostra) as poster child • Mafia code (loyalty, respect, discipline), secret oaths, • Local, ethnic group model – Strong family ties and obligations related to kinship and ethnicity • Distrust of outsiders and government • Capacity for organization and cooperation among groups • Ability to cultivate good will of local residents – Influence limited to cities/geographical areas

Crimes of the organized • Illegal Industries – Gambling, narcotics distribution, loan sharking, extortion, insurance scams, fencing… – Violence associated with enforcement • Legitimate industry – Used to launder money + create monopolies + extort • Restaurants/food, garbage disposal, garment manufacturing, labor unions, construction… • Political – Bribery, fixing elections, coercing agents of criminal justice, etc.

The Mafia • Mafia is often used as general term – Usually refers to Italian Americans (Sicilian) – La Cosa Nostra (“our thing” in Italian) • Fodder for entertainment media (Sopranos, The Godfather, Goodfellas) • Famous New York crime families (Gambino, Genovese) • Joseph Valachi testimony (1963) before the Senate – The organization and crime families do exist, but the level of organization often exaggerated – Does “stand apart” because of its pervasiveness, control over illegitimate markets, and penetration into legitimate industry

Law Enforcement Methods • Headhunting – Target heads of organized crime families, use informants + surveillance to indict – Successful? • Fairly successful at knocking off “heads” but still organized crime • Organized Crime Control Act (1970) – Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Statutes – Prosecutor ability to provide witness protection

The Russian Mafia • The new media darling – Law and Order, more recent movies • Similar to Italian Mafia • Both began by extorting money from fellow immigrants and quickly moved into other areas, and both have reputation for violence • Differences – Less cultural/ethnic loyalty, partnerships more opportunistic • Fewer “bosses” who collect a cut of illicit ventures, greater flexibility

White Collar Crime • Edwin Sutherland – “A crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation” • Urged criminologists to focus on crimes of the upper class, as opposed to street crime (still an issue today) – What is “counted” counts • Sutherland’s study of 70 largest corporations: official records revealed over 980 law violations (fraud, bribery, antitrust) – Much “War Profiteering”

More recent typology of WCC • Occupational Crime – Crimes committed by individuals in the course of their occupation for personal gain • Theft/embezzlement, medical fraud by physicians, therapist having sex with client… • Corporate or Organizational Crime – Crimes committed by corporations (and their executives) for the benefit of the corporation • Organizations include small business and blue collar endeavors (auto repair shops)

Occupational Crimes • Employee embezzlement and pilferage – Collective embezzlement • Savings and Loans crime wave in the 1980 s (land flips) • Professional Fraud – Lawyers, Physicians • How many hours to bill clients • Unnecessary procedures and surgeries, Medicaid/Medicare fraud

Organizational Crime • Many organizational crimes are “blue collar” – Auto repair, appliance repair • 20/20 and 60 minutes stings – Fraudulent businesses (roofing, blacktop) – Small businesses

Corporate Crime • Fraud, Cheating, Corruption – The Enron Scandal • Not alone—the most egregious of the 1990 s/2000 s era – Halliburton, World. Com, Rite Aid, Adelphia… • Enron = cooking books stocks price (overstate earnings, hide losses) + energy market – Accounting firm (Arthur Anderson) complicit the fraud – 31 people indicted (Jeff Skilling, Ken Lay) – More on the “Great Recession” and bailout

Corporate Crime II • Other financial – Price Fixing / Collusion (gas prices) – False advertising (bait and switch) • Corporate Violence – Unsafe work conditions (miners, asbestos) – Unsafe products (contaminated food) • FORD PINTO CASE, PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY, Asbestos – Pollution

Cost of WCC • Cost MUCH higher than street crime – $17 billion vs. roughly $400 billion – 16, 000 homicides vs. 100, 000 unnecessary deaths

What causes WCC? • Lenience? – Double standard embedded in culture—not “real” criminals • Weak/absent regulations –rely on “ethics” and selfregulation • Difficulty in proving crime (complex, good lawyers, lack resources to prosecute) – SEC over 10 years, 600 cases referred for prosecution, and less than 1/3 resulted in convictions with less than 1/6 resulting in jail or prison time • Weak punishment civil settlements with no admission of wrongdoing – Fines often less than 1% of corporate PROFITS for a year

Irony • Conservatives cry out for punishment for street crimes, but believe that much corporate “crime” can be cured by self-regulation • Liberals decry harsh punishment, especially for non-violent offenders, but believe that WCC could be reduced greatly through prison time – Corporations more “rational” than individuals?

Psycho Corporations • Psychopaths: – Insensitive, Manipulative, Superficial charm, Above-average intelligence, Absence of psychotic symptoms, Absence of anxiety, Lack of remorse, Failure to learn from experience, Egocentric, Lack of emotional depth – Corporations are not supposed to be compassionate or think of long-term consequences