Crime Prevention

So today in the news the Medicine Hat police are being criticized for throwing known or suspected outlaw gang members out of a local Legion.  The person that was working at the Legion is “infuriated”.

This is just unbelievably naive.  The local bike gang wanted to contribute to a local charity for Canadian veterans of the Afghanistan war.  Isn’t there something just sickeningly wrong with that?  That’s the same thing these bikers do with legitimate charities like the annual bikers rally for childrens toys.  A few criminals infiltrate and say “see, we’re doing our part to get some toys to little Johnny and Susie.  What they forget to say after that is, as soon as Johnny and Susie no longer need stuffed bunnies they’re going to stuff them with meth and crack.

So how did the police come to be the “bad guys” in this?

Drug addiction is a health problem, not an enforcement problem.  This was stated by Vince Cain Retired RCMP Chief Superintendent and Former British Columbia Chief Coroner and others who have been involved in the “drug war”.

The major markets for organized crime in Canada include:

Counterfeit Goods
Illicit Drugs (Cocaine, Heroin, Marijuana, Methamphetamine’s, Crack,  Ecstasy)
Illegal distribution of pharmaceutical drugs
Illegal Firearms
Fraud – Mortgage
Fraud – vanilla credit cards
Auto theft
Heavy Equipment theft
Investment Fraud
Ponzi Schemes
Money laundering

This all adds up to billions of dollars of Canadians’ and Canadian businesses money flowing in to organized crime.

Obviously, by the sheer diversity of these markets, a one size fits all solution to the problem(s) will not work. Each market for organized crime deserves it’s own strategies.

I believe that the single most effective way to interrupt Organized Crime’s flow of money is to treat it like any other business. In the past the emphasis has been on interrupting the flow of goods (ie. drugs) and hence the “war on drugs”. However the flow of drugs through our borders and to the “consumer”, remains largely unhindered. With almost every large drug bust shown on television news, the consensus is that it would only put a small dent in the business.

It seems we cannot disrupt the supply chain effectively. The method of delivery becomes more sophisticated and harder to detect. So why not interrupt the demand (the consumer) demand for the “product” by taking away all or most of the profit from organized crime?

Yes I am going to suggest what is highly controversial in many areas of society and law enforcement. However it needs to be said. Legalize the sale of some drugs such as marijuana and make it available through control by government, much as they have done with gambling in Canada over the past 30 years. This could also apply to prostitution.

The big moral implication is are we condoning these acts? However if we do decriminalize marijuana and prostitution in Canada and can provide a more responsible product to those who would use it/them anyhow, we stand to make money through reasonable taxation, and hopefully take the profit away from organized crime. Understand I am not presenting a panacea or utopian fix to this issue, I am suggesting we acknowledge that these elements have always been with us and will always be with us. In doing so we can set up a system by which these choices can be controlled and it’s effects on society mitigated in compromise.

This model will not “kill” Organized Crime, but I believe it will put a much larger dent in it’s profits than trying to interrupt the supply chain.

Thoughts?

We are all victimized by organized crime. Organized crime has become more prevalent, and more sophisticated in the 20th and 21st centuries. With the increase of organized crime’s reach in to our every day lives, so also has the level and prevalence of violence increased. We are victimized by organized crime in ways that include everything from having drug induced disturbances occur in or near our homes, to loss of money and assets, to the ultimate victimization – death.

The traditional method of fighting organized crime is through the use of laws and prosecution. There is also legislation regarding the proceeds of crime which allows the government to seize money and assets gained from crime. Essentially traditional methods are to ban, prosecute and imprison. The results of which are debatable in there effectiveness; but necessary. In addition the use of education and mass media to distribute this, is an effective tool in prevention of crime in general.

Use of proceeds of crime legislation is touted as “taking away the profit from crime”, but actually has little impact in my personal opinion. Simply put the use of proceeds legislation allowed the national justice system to seize millions of dollars worth of proceeds. However, what is not completely known is the total proceeds which criminal activity and organized crime retains. This is not intended to be a criticism of these tools, but to foster talk about alternative methods of reducing profits flowing to organized crime.

To outlaw a substance or act is to legislate, when a person(s) or business becomes victimized by a ponzi scheme, fraud or violence we then expect our police to step in, arrest, investigate and give evidence of the crime with an eye prosecution. To prosecute criminal offenses is a necessary weapon against crime also. We need to stand by our police in this fight and cooperate with them to reduce the impact that organized crime has on Canadians.

But I (and I think we) need to ask the question: Why does the government continue to look at the enforcement and prosecution of Organized Crime as the only solution? A solution which is arguably based on outdated laws and methods of enforcement? I believe we need to look at alternative measures to compliment our existing “tools” to reduce organized crime in Canada. I also believe that some of those methods are going to be highly debatable both ideologically and morally, and will require extensive study and debate amongst all parties: ordinary citizens, law enforcement, the judiciary, our corrections services and politicians.

How is it that the drive to ban smoking across Canada, is being accomplished by ASH, an organization that advertises it has 300 members on it’s own website.  300 people telling everyone else what to do and we all follow them because it’s politically correct? Fight Political Connectedness. Not for someone’s right to smoke. Fight for individual liberty. Something which we in Canada do not really enjoy.

The extraordinary high taxes on tobacco products and the heavy movement by special interest groups against tobacco products is having a negative side effect. It is creating a black market for tobacco. And where there is opportunity, there also is organized crime to make a profit on it. How long until someone is shot over a case of tobacco? Do we want to lose our loved ones over this?

Let’s get real and truly understand what our decisions or lack of actions lead to … I admire the idea of creating a clean working and living place. However, special interest groups run this country because our politicians will always pander to who makes the most noise. It’s time for silent Canadians to speak up.

In an it’s all about me world, who is going to look after you if you cannot?