Introduction
Organized crime has become a key problem that law enforcement institutions have to deal with in Australia. This type of crime has become complex and the police and other law enforcement agencies need to be well prepared to deal with the threat that society can be exposed to. It is estimated that Australia loses 10 to 15 billion dollars annually because of the activities of organized crime groups.
The police therefore must put in place stringent measures, which can make it difficult for organized criminal groups to perpetuate their activities without any regard for the law. This briefing paper is going to highlight the various organized crimes that are present in Australia and how law enforcers can rid society of these crimes. The crimes to be discussed are fraud, embezzlement, money laundering, tax evasion, and drug trafficking. This paper will validate the assertion that organized crime not only hurts the community but also the financial well-being of Australia at large.
Background
The issue of organized crime continues to pose a big risk to the well-being of Australian society. This is because these criminal incidents have become more sophisticated and those who commit them are more adept at manipulating the rule of law. The most common forms of organized crime that are likely to occur in the country include cybercrimes, money laundering, counterfeiting, tax evasion, drug trafficking, public sector corruption, and corporate embezzlements (Schloenhardt 2011, 11-12).
All these criminal activities are committed by criminal gangs and networks to obtain power and financial clout within the locations they operate from. The police in Australia must deal with these forms of crimes because they pose the biggest danger to the well-being of Australian society. The strategies that the police use to fight crime must be able to respond to the needs of law enforcement in the 21st century.
Organized crime gangs continue to come up with new methods through which they commit crimes without being stopped and as such, they risk eroding the rule of the law in the country. The incidents of financial crimes are also a problem for the police to deal with because they involve a great deal of planning and execution to avoid detection. These crimes cause great harm to many people and business entities and as such, the police must design strategies, which can help to reduce the occurrence of financial crimes. Successful organized crime operations within a country make it difficult for the government and the police to exercise their authority in upholding justice and the rule of law (Schloenhardt 2011, 13-14).
The police must monitor all suspicious activities that are carried out by criminals to acquire crucial evidence that can help in prosecution. The burden of enforcing crime is usually felt by the police and the consequences of criminal acts are felt by members of the society collectively. Hopefully, the government has come up with laws, which address the new forms of organized crime within the country. The organized crime response plan (OCRP) is a step in the right direction, which can equip the police with the necessary legal backing to halt the activities of organized criminal groups in the country. The OCRP makes it easy for the government to carry out surveillance against criminal conspiracies before they occur, helping the police to have proactive strategies which prevent crime.
The biggest challenge that is likely to be faced by law enforcement officers is the issue of enforcing these laws to ensure that people comply with them. The OCRP is a framework whereby Australian police can cooperate with other law enforcement agencies within the commonwealth member states to fight organized crime. The law is progressive since it helps to deal with new forms of financial crimes that have become more common in the 21st century (Schloenhardt 2011, 21-23).
Globalization which has seen an improvement in communications, financial services, and transport has made it more difficult for the police to crackdown on organized crime networks. However, it is difficult for the police to arrest suspects that have escaped to other countries, which are not commonwealth members. The government needs to come up with new laws, which will make it impossible for criminals to carry out incidents of financial crimes without detection.
The financial crimes that are carried out in Australia vary and occur in different forms. These include embezzlement, identity theft, counterfeiting, fraud, and tax evasion. All these crimes are complex and require a lot of vigilance by the police to ensure that the culprits are brought to book. Money laundering is a major challenge for law enforcement because it is the main method through which criminal groups disguise their earnings (Australian Crime Commission 2011, 9).
The methods used to launder money are usually complex and financial institutions aid criminals to disguise the sources of such funds as genuine. Therefore, the government needs to strengthen the capacity of the police to deal with this problem of money laundering within and outside the country. The money can be transferred within the country or abroad where the criminals can be able to deposit the funds safely through various methods that cannot be easily detected.
The police need to have elaborate plans to fight financial crimes, which can involve local financial organizations to come up with better strategies to help reduce the level of money laundering and other financial crimes within the country. A division set up within the police agencies can be equipped with the financial intelligence techniques that can help it to solve money laundering crimes (Australian Crime Commission 2011, 9-10).
The agency can cooperate with financial organizations to report any suspicious money transactions that are conducted through their systems. This requires the police to have more powers to ensure that these criminal networks do not use the financial system to cause damage to society. The government needs to formulate laws that can mandate financial organizations with the power to inform the authorities of any suspicious money trails within their systems. This will require officers who have the forensic intelligence to curb criminal networks within the country.
The regulatory institutions within the country can be involved in breaking up the activities of money launderers. The bank accounts of these criminal groups can be frozen to ensure that such funds are being accessed by these criminal groups. This will require these institutions to cooperate with international financial and policing agencies to trace the source and destination of money that could be obtained from proceeds of crimes. Effective policies against money laundering could help the police to cut short criminal networks from getting any source of funding which helps to reduce their strength (Australian Crime Commission 2011, 20).
Modern-day criminal groups have developed an entrepreneurial approach to crime and by cutting off the systems through which they transact money; the police can effectively control them. There should be stiff penalties for people and organizations that transfer large sums of money without revealing the source of the funds. The justice system can come up with severe penalties against anyone who is found to have violated these laws to serve as a deterrent against this offense.
The issue of fraud has become more complex because of the ingenious methods fraudsters use to commit crimes. The effect of all forms of fraud on the economy can be severe if not checked and therefore, there should be more vigilance by the police to reduce the activities of these criminals. Credit card fraud is a crime that requires a lot of police attention because it erodes the trust that is placed in financial institutions by their customers (Australian Crime Commission 2011, 43). This creates a situation where people do not have confidence in the financial systems within the country and this can impact negatively on the financial sector. The police can cooperate more with financial institutions to come up with effective strategies that can reduce the incidents of fraud in the country.
One of the most common ways through which fraud has been carried out has been through identity theft where some people impersonate other people to obtain money. This has been done by fraudsters through falsifying documents or impersonating influential people to obtain favors. The police can cooperate with members of the public to ensure that the activities of these fraudsters do not negatively impact society. More efforts should be made to sensitize the public on the various forms of fraud they are likely to encounter to help the police fight these crimes effectively (Shanty 2008, 74).
Some of the worst forms of fraud to be committed involve tax evasion. Some individuals and companies can smuggle goods into the country evading all the stops that have been put into their way so that they do not get to pay taxes. The government, therefore, loses substantial amounts of revenue, which could have helped run its programs. The police force needs to strengthen its presence at border points, seaports, and airports to ensure that goods that evade tax are not smuggled into the country.
The need to have more made efforts made to fight gang violence in the country cannot be underestimated. Organized criminal gangs operate within a well-thought-out structure and a hierarchy of command through which their various activities are carried out. Criminal gangs in Australia have over the years been well organized with ‘bikie’ gangsters wreaking havoc in many urban settlements (Shanty 2008, 76).
These gangs are usually in rivalry with other illegal groups, which battle for the control of markets for their illegal merchandise. The western parts of Australia and other areas have experienced the dangerous activities of these gangs, which have created a state of disorder within the locations they operate. The criminal activities that these gangs are involved in include: drug trafficking, racketeering, and extortion. Other crimes that they are involved in are forced prostitution, counterfeiting, smuggling, and murders (Shanty 78). As discussed by the author, the activities of these gangs are a big danger to society and they must be curtailed.
Motorcycle gangs in particular have a notorious reputation for breaking the law, which has constantly made them one of Australia’s biggest internal security threats. Some of these gangs have extremely strong networks with their members, both inside and outside the country, who collude to participate in criminal activities. These gangs participate in drug trafficking in the country where they distribute narcotics to users in various locations from which they obtain funds and money to fund these illegal activities (Barker 2007, 134-135).
The police, therefore, need to be more vigilant to halt the activities of these gangs to ensure that they do not create disturbances of the law within the societies they live. It has been an issue of concern that some of these criminal gangs have the ability to corrupt police and other public officials to allow them to carry out their activities uninterrupted. The author brings to light the pertinent issue of compromised police officers who may fail to deal with the criminal activities of these gangs.
The issue of drug trafficking is closely tied to the rise of criminal gangs within the country. Drug trafficking has been known to breed high levels of crime and it usually causes other criminal activities to occur within a given area. The Australian government has made progress in fighting drug dealing by taking a tough stance on the consumption of drugs within the country (Barker 2007, 136-137).
Law enforcement must not only focus on arrest and prosecution of drug offenses but must come up with programs that can help to rehabilitate addicts who are dependent on narcotics. Criminal gangs have been known to recruit members in their teenage and youthful years so that they can be used as conduits through which they commit crimes. The book reveals that young people can be educated on the negative consequences of being gang members and how they can become more responsible in society.
Gang violence between members of rival gangs erodes the order and tranquility of any given society. This violence portrays a society that has low morals and the police need to have good investigative abilities to break down incidents that arise out of gang violence. There should be more programs that seek to encourage youth to follow alternative and more rewarding activities. The issue of human trafficking and forced prostitution should be seriously dealt with by the government to ensure that fewer victims are exposed to the activities of criminal networks in the country (Carrington and Pereira 2007, 127-129).
Criminal gangs acquire profits illegally from such victims and create harsh conditions characterized by enslavement and suffering of the victims. More laws should be formulated, which can help the police deal with the threat posed by these criminal offenses. This shows that increased international cooperation can help the police to deal with the activities of criminal gangs within the country more effectively to reduce their power.
Conclusion
In conclusion, organized crime in all its forms contributes highly to lawlessness in Australia, which endangers the state of law and order in the country. The legislative ability of the police to deal with these crimes needs to be strengthened to ensure that they can curtail the activities of criminals. A well-functioning police service can help to improve the security of citizens and their property within the country making them have confidence in the government. Law enforcement agencies therefore must cooperate with the public, financial, and other government departments to ensure that the country is protected from the activities of organized crime. The police must also cooperate with their counterparts from outside Australia to track any criminal activities carried out by criminal syndicates.
Bibliography
Australian Crime Commission. 2011. Organized Crime in Australia 2011. Perth: Australian Crime Commission.
Barker, Thomas. 2007. Biker Gangs and Organized Crime. Newark, NJ: Elsevier.
Carrington, Kerry and Margaret Pereira. 2007. Offending Youth: Sex, Crime and Justice. Sydney: Federation Press.
Schloenhardt, Andreas. 2011. “Fighting Organized Crime in the Asia Pacific Region: New Weapons, Lost Wards.” Asian Law Institute Working Paper Series 2(1): 11-12.
Shanty, Frank. 2008. Organized Crime: From Trafficking to Terrorism. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC CLIO.