chapter twelve crimes involving illegal immigrants, the mob, hate, and youth

Chapter Twelve

Crimes Involving Illegal Immigrants, The Mob, Hate, and Youth

Policing America, 6th editionKenneth Peak

© 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.

All Rights Reserved.2

Policing Our Borders According to the Center for

Immigration Studies January 2000 there were 7 million illegal

aliens in the US Illegal alien population estimated at 10

million in 2007 Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

Within Department of Homeland Security




Policing Our Borders Responsible for guarding 7,000 miles of

land border and 2,000 miles of coastal waters

11,000 CBP agents and 18,000 CBP officers

Deploying modern technology, strengthening border infrastructure, increasing the number of highly trained law enforcement personnel




Policing Our Borders New Terrorist Watch Program

U. S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT)

24 million foreigners are expected to be checked at nation’s airports annually

Check against terrorist lists and national database




Policing Our Borders U.S. Southwestern Border

700 mile fence Over $1.2 billion

Congress also passed a DHS bill that included $380 million to hire 1,500 more CBP agents and money to build detention facilities




Policing Our Borders One crime that has been

disproportionately associated with undocumented migrants in the Southwest is drug trafficking

Police officials say this is a false impression

Aliens are a prime target for criminals




Policing Our Borders “Coyotes” – people sellers “Vendepollo” – work the streets in

Mexico looking for new clients “Brincador” – guides migrants

across the border Operation Ice Storm (2003)




Policing Our Borders Rescue beacons and border drones Monitor illegal activity along the

Arizona-Mexico border Use thermal and night-vision

equipment to spot illegal immigrants and can detect movement from 15 miles of altitude, read a license plate, and detect weapons




Policing Organized Crime Organized crime

Any group having some manner of formalized structure and whose primary objective is to obtain money through illegal activities

Oldest, most profitable, and most dangerous form of organized crime in the US is the Mafia




Policing Organized Crime Origins can be traced back to 13th

century Sicily “Morte Alle Francia Italia Anela”

meaning “Death to the French is Italy’s Cry”

The acronym of this is MAFIA Mafia families have a formally

organized nature




Policing Organized Crime By the 1960s the Mafia’s influence in

America had grown to a multibillion-dollar syndicate of criminal enterprises run by 26 families nationwide

Beginning in the mid-1980s, the FBI led an assault on the Mafia

Put away two generations of godfathers




Policing Organized CrimeHow was this success obtained?1. Expanded use of electronic eavesdropping

(wiretapping)2. Use of informants3. Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt

Organizations Act (RICO)

Now more of an illicit mom-and-pop operation




Policing Hate Crimes Hate Crime Statistics Act (1990)

Forced police to collect statistics on hate crimes

Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) Developed expertise in identifying

and tracking hate-crime groups and incidents




Policing Hate Crimes Authority on hate crimes and groups Intelligence Project

Conducts training for law enforcement Counts 803 active hate groups in US Include black separatist groups, Christian

identity groups, the KKK, neo-Nazis, neo-Confederates, racist skinheads




Policing Hate Crimes FBI reports about 9650 hate-crime

victimization each year About 52.1% are motivated by

racial-bias About 15% are aimed at sexual

orientation About 18% religion About 1% aimed at victim’s

disability




Policing Youth Crimes About 46.3% of all persons arrested in

the US are under the age of 24 26.2% are under 19 Juvenile crime remains one of the

nation’s most serious problems During a recent ten-year period,

juveniles ages 12 to 14 and 15 to 17 experienced average annual rates of nonfatal violence that were about 2.5 times higher than rate for adults




Policing Youth Crimes Four in five victims of nonfatal violent

crime, ages 12 to 14, perceived the offender to be a juvenile

Laws enacted that make the juvenile system more punitive and easier to transfer juveniles into the adult system

Incarceration rate of 645 makes the US second only to that of Russia at 685




Policing Youth Crimes School violence and bullying Strategies for police and citizens to

help prevent school violence1. Publicizing the philosophy that a

gang presence will not be tolerated2. Alerting students and parents about

school rules and punishments




Policing Youth Crimes

3. Creating alternative schools for students that cannot function in a regular classroom

4. Training parents, teachers, and school staff to identify at risk children

5. Developing community initiatives focused on breaking family cycles of violence

6. Establishing peer counseling




Policing Youth Crimes School resource officers (SROs) Bullying Two key components1. Repeated harmful acts2. An imbalance of power

Between 5 and 9 percent of students bully others with some regularity




Policing Youth Crimes SARA fights bullying in Ohio Survey, interviews, and focus

groups conducted by academics from Kent State University’s justice studies department

Geographic Information System mapped hot spots in the schools





Four areas of concern1. The environmental design of the

school areas2. Teachers’ knowledge and response

to the problem3. Parents’ attitude and responses4. Students’ perceptions and

behaviors




Policing Youth Crimes Assessment found the bullying

incidents dropped by 60% in the hallways and 80% in the gym area

Surveys indicated positive attitudinal change among students




Policing Youth Crimes Gun violence Overall homicide rate declined in

1980s and 1990s Youth violence, particularly gun

homicide began increasing dramatically

Research as linked urban gun violence to gang conflicts over drug markets

Operation Cease Fire




Policing Youth CrimesDisorderly conduct in public placesResponse to the problem1. Creating alternative legitimate

places and activities for youth2. Encouraging youth to gather

where they will not disturb others3. Reducing the comfort level of

popular gathering places





4. Installing and monitoring closed-circuit television cameras

5. Establishing and enforcing rules of conduct

6. Denying youth anonymity by getting to know the names and faces of young people




Policing Youth Crimes Underage drinking The average age when youth first try

alcohol is 11 years for boys and 13 years for girls

Average age at which Americans begin drinking regularly is 15.9 years

Adolscents who began drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependency than those who began at 21




Policing Youth Crimes Estimated 3 million teenagers are

alcoholics Of the three leading causes of

death for 15- to 24-year-olds – automobile crashes, homicides, and suicides – alcohol is a leading factor in all three





Police responses to underage drinking

1. Target reduction of the community’s overall alcohol consumption

2. Use a comprehensive approach

chapter twelve crimes involving illegal immigrants, the mob, hate, and youth

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