Crime Analysis State Organized Crime

Crime Analysis

State organized crime refers to the crimes committed by some of the organizations in the government. The crimes benefit the government by the separation between the individual and government is difficult. Terrorism can be divided in to retail and wholesale terrorism depending on its spread. Al-Qaeda is an example of wholesale terrorism as it has various outlets. The Libyan leader Qaddafi was suspected of funding terrorism activities against the U.S. The FBI and CIA can consider his assassination attempts as state organized crimes.

Identify the specific meaning of Chambliss' concept of state-organized crime, and discuss some of its specific historical manifestations.

The law defines what is wrong or right in a nation. Chambliss defined the concept of state organized crime as the act in which the state officials commit criminal offences as defined by the law. Drawing a line between the offender and the beneficiary of the criminal act is difficult. The offender is usually the government official but the crime is committed benefits the organization he represents. The concept is not new in the government as history traces events of state -- organized crime as early as the age of the Vikings. State -- organized crimes should be eliminated if corruption and other vices are to be eliminated (Rothe, 2011).

Piracy is among the oldest forms of state-organized crimes. Corrupt governors colluded with pirates in great empires such as Rome and Greece. These governments benefited from piracy by equipping pirates to attack enemy ships. British governments colluded with pirates to attack the Portuguese carrying minerals from New World Laden. The Government got a share of the minerals looted from the Portuguese ships and the pirates got sponsorships and protection from the British government. America also benefited from its corrupt dealing with pirates during the colonial period. The gain can be evaluated as organizational gains and personal gains.

2. How does "wholesale" terrorism differ from "retail" terrorism?

Terrorism refers to the act of bringing terror to the people mainly through coercion. Terrorism can be divided into various sections with classifications such as wholesale and retail terrorism being used. The difference mainly arises in the tools being used and the resources available to the terror group. Retail terrorism differs from wholesale terrorism in that retail terrorism uses crude weapons compared to the weapons used why wholesale terrorist. The nature of weapons used to cause terror differs significantly among retail terrorists but are similar in wholesale terrorism. The reason for the terrorism in retail terrorism is not wide spread compared to wholesale terrorism (Rothe, 2011).

Casualty levels in retail terrorism are usually low if any. The casualty levels in wholesale are usually large and has a higher probability of occurring. When passenger planes were hijacked on September 11, the type of terrorism could be called retail terrorism, as the target group was the passengers. The target later changed and the target group was the world trade center and the casualty level increased. After hitting the world trade center the terrorism, become wholesale terrorism. Another significant difference is the spread. There are many terror groups in many nations but they are limited to individual nations. Al-Qaeda is an example of wholesale terrorism because it has cells in many nations.

3. Which case of contemporary American state-organized crime do you find most disturbing, and why?