Exploring the relationship between organised crime and volume crime

Abstract

Volume crimes such as burglary, theft, criminal damage, drug possession, assault and fraud are often treated in popular discourse as a separate category of criminal behaviour to crimes committed by organised criminal groups. Yet in reality there is considerable overlap, with organised criminal groups involved in various forms of volume crime. As part of a program of work investigating the criminal histories of members of organised criminal groups, this study explores the different ways in which such offenders could be involved with volume crime and their motivations for doing so. A typology describes eight ways in which members of organised criminal groups are involved in volume crime. These include professional organisation, methodologically sophisticated crime, covert business practices, service provision, brokerage, business protection, income generation and way of life. Further research should quantify the extent to which members of organised criminal groups in Australia participate in these activities. 

References

URLs correct as at May 2024

Ablon L, Libicki C & Golay AA 2014. Markets for cybercrime tools and stolen data: Hackers’ Bazaar. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR610.html

Andreas P & Wallman J 2009. Illicit markets and violence: What is the relationship? Crime, Law and Social Change 52(3): 225–229 

Association of Chief Police Officers 2009. Practice advice on the management of priority and volume crime (the volume crime management model), 2nd ed. Wyboston: National Policing Improvement Agency 

Association of Chief Police Officers 2002. ACPO Investigation of volume crime manual. London: Association of Chief Police Officers 

Australian Crime Commission (ACC) 2015a. The costs of serious and organised crime in Australia 2013–14. Canberra: Australian Crime Commission. https://www.acic.gov.au/publications/unclassified-intelligence-reports/costs-serious-and-organised-crime-australia

Australian Crime Commission 2015b. The costs of serious and organised crime in Australia 2013–14: Methodological approach. Canberra: Australian Crime Commission. https://www.acic.gov.au/publications/unclassified-intelligence-reports/costs-serious-and-organised-crime-australia

Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) 2017. Organised crime in Australia 2017. Canberra: Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission. https://www.acic.gov.au/publications/unclassified-intelligence-reports/organised-crime-australia-2017

Bartlett J 2014. The dark net: Inside the digital underworld. London: William Heinemann 

Broadhurst R, Grabosky P, Alazab M, Bouhours B & Chon S 2014. Organizations and cyber crime: An analysis of the nature of groups engaged in cyber crime. International Journal of Cyber Criminology 8(1): 1–20 

Brottsförebyggande rådet (Brå) 2013. Police officers’ view of the investigation of volume crime: Assignment “Investment in more police officers”. Stockholm: Brottsförebyggande rådet (Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention). https://bra.se/bra-in-english/home/publications/archive/publications/20…

Brown R & Clarke R 2004. Police intelligence and theft of vehicles for export: Recent UK experience, in MG Maxfield & RV Clarke (eds), Understanding and preventing car theft, vol. 17. Monsey, NY: Criminal Justice Press: 173–192 

Cara A 2015. Modus operandi of organized crime: Violence, corruption and money laundering. European Scientific Journal 11(28): 472–480 

Cartwright R & Bones FC 2017. Transnational organized crime and the impact on the private sector: The hidden battalions. Geneva: Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime 

Choo K-KR & Smith RG 2008. Criminal exploitation of online systems by organised crime groups. Asian Journal of Criminology 3(1): 37–59 

Clarkson W 2016. Sexy beasts: The real inside story of the Hatton Garden Mob. London: Quercus 

Council of the European Union 1997. Revision of doc. 12247/1/94 ENFOPOL 161 REV 1 on the basis of doc. 5717/97 ENFOPOL 22 as a result of the expert meeting of 13/14 February 1997 on the mechanism for EU reporting on organised crime. Document 6204/97. Brussels: Council of the European Union. https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-6204-1997-INIT/en/pdf

Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland 2006. Handling volume crime and the use of police bail: A review of how the PSNI deal with incidents of volume crime and uses of police bail. Belfast: Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland. https://www.cjini.org/TheInspections/Inspection-Reports/2004-(2)

Decker S 1996. Collective and normative features of gang violence. Justice Quarterly 13(2): 243–264 

Decker S & Pyrooz DC 2014. Gangs: Another form of organized crime? in L Paoli (ed), The Oxford Handbook of Organized Crime. Oxford: Oxford University Press: 270–287 

Desroches F 2007. Research on upper level drug trafficking: A review. Journal of Drug Issues 37(4): 827–844 

Drugs and Crime Prevention Committee 2009. Inquiry into strategies to prevent high volume offending and recidivism by young people. Final report. Melbourne: Parliament of Victoria 

The Economist 2016. Shedding light on the dark web. 16 Jul. https://www.economist.com/international/2016/07/16/shedding-light-on-the-dark-web

Finckenauer JO 2005. Problems of definition: What is organised crime? Trends in Organized Crime 8(3): 63–83 

Francis B, Humphreys L, Kirby S & Soothill K 2013. Understanding criminal careers in organised crime. Research Report 74. London: Home Office 

Friman HR 2009. Drug markets and the selective use of violence. Crime, Law and Social Change 52(3): 285–295 

Hauck P and Peterke S 2010. Organized crime and gang violence in national and international law. International Review of the Red Cross 92(878): 407–436

Hobbs D 2013. Lush life: Constructing organized crime in the UK. Oxford: Oxford University Press 

Interpol 2014. Analytical report: Motor vehicle crime in global perspective. https://www.interpol.int/en/Crimes/Vehicle-crime

Jansson K 2005. Volume crime investigations: A review of the research literature. Home Office Online Report 44/05. London: Home Office. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=a6911e3ed5937dbb9e4979c02ca75980096557f5

Kleemans ER & de Poot CJ 2008. Criminal careers in organized crime and social opportunity structure. European Journal of Criminology 5(1): 69–98 

Klockars C 1974. The professional fence. New York: Macmillan 

Levi M 2012. The organization of serious crimes for gain, in M Maguire, R Morgan and R Reiner (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Criminology, 5th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press: 595–622 

Levi M 2010. Credit fraud, in F Brookman, M Maguire, H Pierpoint & T Bennett (eds), Handbook on Crime. Cullompton, Devon: Willan Publishing: 153–171 

Lewis MK 2015. Understanding Ponzi schemes: Can better financial regulation prevent investors from being defrauded? Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing

Ley D & Cybriwsky R 1974. Urban graffiti as territorial markers. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 64(4): 491–505 

Mack JA & Kerner HJ 1975. The Crime Industry. Farnborough: Saxon House 

Martin J, Cunliffe J, Décary-Hétu D & Aldridge J 2018. The international darknet drugs trade—A regional analysis of cryptomarkets, in RG Smith (ed), Organised crime research in Australia 2018. Research Report no. 10. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology: 95–103. https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/rr/rr10

Mayhew C 2001. The detection and prevention of cargo theft. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 214. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi214

New York Daily News 1931. Capone guilty. 18 Oct. https://www.nydailynews.com/2016/10/17/crime-lord-al-capone-known-as-scarface-is-found-guilty-for-tax-evasion-in-1931/

New Zealand Government 2010. Organised crime in New Zealand 2010. Wellington: New Zealand Government 

Palmer WE & Richardson C 2009. Organised retail crime: Assessing the risk and developing effective strategies. CRISP Report. Alexandria VA: ASIS Foundation 

Paoli L & Vander Beken T 2014. Organised crime: A contested concept, in L Paoli (ed), The Oxford Handbook of Organized Crime. Oxford: Oxford University Press: 13–31 

Reuter P 2009. Systemic violence in drug markets. Crime, Law and Social Change 52(3): 275–284 

Santora M 2013. In hours, thieves took $45 million in A.T.M. scheme. The New York Times, 9 May. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/10/nyregion/eight-charged-in-45-million-global-cyber-bank-thefts.html

Savona EU & Berlusconi G (eds) 2015. Organized crime infiltration of legitimate businesses in Europe: A pilot project in five European countries. Trento: Transcrime – Università degli Studi di Trento 

Savona EU & Riccardi M 2015. From illegal markets to legitimate businesses: the portfolio of organised crime in Europe. Final Report of Project OCP – Organised Crime Portfolio (www.ocportfolio.eu). Trento: Transcrime – Università degli Studi di Trento 

Scambusters.org nd. Cybercriminals offer dating scam letters with guaranteed return: Internet Scambusters #708. http://www.scambusters.org/dating.html

Sergi A 2017. From Mafia to organised crime: A comparative analysis of policing models. London: Palgrave Macmillan 

Smith RG 2018. Estimating the costs of serious and organised crime in Australia 2016–17. Statistical Report no. 9. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/sr/sr9

Smith RG 2017. Responding to organised crime through intervention in recruitment pathways. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 473. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi473

Smith RG 2013. Anti-money laundering: The accounting and legal professions, in D Chaikin (ed), Financial crime risks, globalisation and the professions. Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing 

Smith RG, Grabosky PN & Urbas GF 2004. Cyber criminals on trial. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 

Steffensmeier DJ 1986. The fence: In the shadow of two worlds. Totowa, NJ: Roman and Littlefield 

Sullivan ML 1989. Getting paid: Youth crime and work in the inner city. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press 

Veno A 2002. The Brotherhoods: Inside the outlaw motorcycle clubs. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen and Unwin 

von Lampe K 2017. Definitions of organized crime. Accessed 4 March 2017 at http://www.organized-crime.de/organizedcrimedefinitions.htm

Walsh ME 1977. The fence: A new look at the world of property theft. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press 

Werb D, Rowell G, Guyatt G, Kerr T, Montaner J & Wood E 2011. Effect of drug law enforcement on drug market violence: A systematic review. International Journal of Drug Policy 22(2): 87–94 

Winfield N 2016. Mafia toxic waste dumping ‘causes higher cancer and death rates in Naples’. The Independent, 2 Jan. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/mafia-toxic-waste-dumping-causes-higher-cancerand-death-rates-in-naples-a6794236.html

Wolf DR 1991. The Rebels: A brotherhood of outlaw bikers. Toronto: University of Toronto Press 

Wright RT & Decker S 1994. Burglars on the job: Street life and residential break-ins. Boston: Northeastern University Press