Crime and organized crime in Australia

Introduction Crime is defined as an act that contravenes the law. Organized crime on the other hand can be defined as the criminal activities that are planned and organized and those that use new technologies and techniques as motivated by the financial motive that the group hopes to attain. The cost of organized crime in Australia ranges between $10 and $15 billion dollars each year which means that the Australian population id under very high threat. Most of the organized crimes practiced in the country are adaptable in nature and very sophisticated too, meaning that the risks attached to them have very significant consequences to the businesses and to the entire community (Windybank 2008). Statistics Organized crime syndicates constitute most of the threat to the country, with most of them being characterized as being transnational in nature, with most of them being proven to have serious capabilities and involvement in varied types of crimes (Albanese 2012). Most of the organized crime cartels in the area are engaged in activities that involve the illicit sale of drugs, fraudulent activities and other activities that are used in the laundering business of money (Gilligan 2007). Most of them are also in the position to employ various strategies that are able to aid in their violence and corruption functions. They are also characterized by use of new technological appliances and factors such as professional advice and use of specialist to advise them on how to facilitate their services without being apprehended. One of the major organized types of crime is the illicit market through which most of the criminal activities like sale of firearms and financial crimes are instigated (Moore 2008). The main thing that these markets however operate is the use and sale of drugs to the public. The above information is relayed through use of percentage ratios to show the impact of the crime in the diagram below: Analysis Most of the organized crime that takes place in the country has in most case been linked with the ethnic backgrounds of the individuals that are taking part in the crime. It is through this survey that it was noted that most of the organized crime cartels in the regions associated with national from South East Asia are characterized by drug addicts that mostly deal in the importation and transportation of heroine (Moore 2008). Nationals from the countries of Romania and South America in the country, have also been linked with crimes like importation of drugs like cocaine and the Nigerian groups associated with fraudulent activities (Moore 2008). It has also been noted that, organized crime in the country, is conducted and takes place in every state and territory of the country, mainly focused in areas that tend to harbor large populations of people and those that are also accessible, in terms of industry terms, resources and many services. Although most of them may operate in one territory, in the country, they are usually inter-connected to the other criminal groups well. The greatest threats however, are those crime groups that operate in more than one state and have international links. This common phenomenon is associated to the groups that deal with the illicit importation and transportation of drugs (Moore 2008). International crime groups, are also taking advantage of the technological development and globalization to enforce and propagate crime. The same also applies to the crime syndicates in the country who tend to be technologically well informed, gathering a lot of information, on the people that they hope to influence, ranging from the business people in the country, or the processes that they hope to manipulate, and thus will endeavor to be technological ahead (Moore 2008). Most of them even tend to integrate their legitimate business activities with the crimes to disguise their crimes as being legit in nature. In addition, most of them that are involved in money laundering activities tend to manipulate and hide their identity, so that they can always appear as legitimate business people. Most of the criminal groups in Australia operate through entrepreneurship practices, and are usually capable of resisting the effects of the law, in regards to manipulation of the law enforcement agencies and bodies. Most of them love to base their activities in areas where they have little exposure and where the external regulatory gaps can be manipulated at their will, to suit them. In this case, through use of their legitimate business activities, they are also able to make very high profits (Moore 2008). Organized crime policies The government of has incorporated the use of a number of agencies, that aid in the curbing of both crime, and organized crime in the country. These agencies are mainly tasked with the responsibility to deliver, supply and ensure that they have enforced harm-reducing strategies to the society as far as crime is concerned. The most underlying agency that has been used in this case is the Australian crime commission (ACC), in the implementation of both strategies and operations (Clark 2005). One of the police that have been implemented by this body is the organized crime threats assessment (OCTA),through which the assessments of criminal activities are made an thus, aid in crucial decision making for the Australian law enforcement agencies (Clark 2005). It is through this policy that the ACC facilitates and ensures that there is national comprehension, of the key problems and factors that lead to the dominant trends of the illicit drug use, money Laundering activities and crimes that lead to personification. The agency also use the strategy of high risk methodology of funds, through which it analyzes the movement activities that concern money, and as such, are able to effectively locate the targets. Through this way, the agency is able to evaluate the economical model of finance and trade (Clark 2005). Through use of other information, from both the private and the public sectors of the economy, it is therefore, very easy for the agency to determine illicit money flows, through use of algorithms (Moore 2008).Through use of these approaches, the agency and the government are able to enhance the strategic intelligent picture, and thus, the law enforcement efforts of the country can be made stronger (Clark 2005). This way, greater opportunities through which illicit funds can be confiscated are developed and created. In order to ensure that technological crimes are curbed and reduced, the government of Australia has integrate the use of chip and pin technology, a policy that was implemented by both the (ACC) and the payment clearing association of Australia, in order to raise awareness on such frauds, and to effectively combat them as well. It is through this scheme that the financial details and risk that the business could undergo was highlighted and thus various business owners educated on the same. It is through the same lines that the common wealth community was able to launch the Protect yourself online policy, through which the individuals are taught on the importance of protecting their cyber security. The ACC, in order to ensure that organized criminal acts are regulated in the country has also ensured to amend the crimes legislation act, in order to increase the capacity of the institutions in crime regulation, to capture cases of identity theft, and to help the people that have been affected by such cases (Moore 2008). Other laws that have also been passed in regards to the same issue are the crimes legislation amendment bill of 2011, which was implemented to alleviate the confiscation of assets that have been obtained through use of criminal means. Crime prevention strategies and policies In the current past, it was noted that the interventions that enlighten these approaches are feasible to have a superior chance of success in case they are planned, developed and implemented as a parcel directly linked and synchronized with the strategies. There is an assortment of constructive examples of such strategies in the country. For example, it has been acknowledged that the advancement of policies, general agreements and protocols about avoiding high visibility street-level policing of drug interconnected crimes, near drug treatment facilities, can have an affirmative impact in preventing such criminal activities. The strategies that are developed in the state for preventing crime encompass the police, the society and supplementary organizations such as the healthcare services concerned. One of the widespread strategies in this objective in the state, is public health/society security collaborations. There are diverse strategies that are developed in different parts of the state borrowing from this key administration strategy. (Cherney and Sutton, 2007) Smith and Louis, (2009) posits that the administration of Australia together with the criminologists in the state has realized the function played by effectual design in preventing crime. A classic criminal will assess a potential prey or a scene prior to enforcing a crime. This is the reason why the government is advocating for effectual designs as a way of preventing crime. This is through a strategy known as crime deterrence through ecological design or CPTED. This strategy seeks to influent effective designs and locations by: increasing the perception of risk to potential offenders by increasing the chances of detection, capture and challenge; increasing the efforts that are require for perpetrating a crime by increasing the energy, time and resources that are required; decreasing the possible rewards of a criminal act by decreasing, eliminating or obscuring “crime benefits”; and eliminating conditions that are confusing regarding norms of behavior (Goodnow, 2006). Situational crime prevention is a strategy developed in the country to prevent aggressive crime. This strategy is alert on settings and opportunities for crime, as an alternative of exposure and retribution of criminals. A range of situational techniques are applied under this strategy (Moore 2008). They range from straightforward crime prevention techniques to more stylish techniques of deterring or dispiriting criminals and doing away with the pleasant appearance of particular crime targets. Some of the high-level techniques that are implemented in the efforts to stop crime comprise setting up of security screens, double security doors, surveillance cameras, alarms and CCTV. These methods take account of simple but effectual methods like elevated shopper visibility inside buildings, habitual education of staff in money management methods and restricting the quantity of money that is reserved inside building. When implementing this strategy in countering violent crime, various agencies and organizations have diverse potentially effectual situational crime prevention methods that are accessible to be implemented. The Australian government has supported use of these strategies in the efforts to curb violent crime (Matthews, 2006) Conclusion The occurrence of criminal activities in Australia seems to be on the rise with most of the crimes being conducted in an organized manner. This is no longer the era through which the people would be robbed violently or killed in order for their wealth to be taken away from them. On the contrary these days, most of the money that is stolen, is stolen through use of clean basis, in that, it would otherwise not be detected unless through the use of smart technologies and constant monitoring. Technology and globalization have been the underlying factors that have led to the instigation of such crimes with most of the criminal activities being well informed and systematically planned. However, through the policy measures as implemented by the government, all we can do is to hope that these cases will reduce and eventually fade out with time. 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