How to Prevent Enterprise Crime

From the Mafia to Enron, one of the most devastating areas of crime is enterprise crime. Enterprise crime consists of combining a business and illegal tactics for the sole purpose of making money. Enterprise crime is made up of two categories of criminal activity: white-collar crime and organized crime. The effects of enterprise crime are staggering for victims and society. Billions of dollars are lost every year to these criminal schemes.

Instructions

Preventing Enterprise Crime

1. Increase funding for investigation and prosecution. Investigating and prosecuting enterprise crime is costly. Unlike other crimes, the investigations can take years, and involve hundreds of thousands of dollars. If law enforcement agencies do not have enough money, they can't do the thorough investigation needed. This will likely mean higher taxes, but when experts place the monetary loss due to enterprise crime in the hundreds of billions of dollars, it's clearly a worthwhile expense.

2. Properly train investigators and prosecutors on enterprise crime. Enterprise crime is often highly technical. Investigators and prosecutors need to have a solid understanding of business principles, accounting and technology. It is a far more involved process than investigating a robbery or assault. If investigators and prosecutors don't have the proper training, they won't know what to look for. Proper training leads to solid investigations, and solid investigations lead to convictions.

3. Strengthen laws and regulations. Law enforcement has had good success in thwarting enterprise crime through the use of regulatory enforcement. Agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Trade Commission are sometimes able to curb enterprise crime before it starts. Combine that with laws having strong deterrent effects, such as the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). These laws punish offenders severely when the crimes do happen.

4. Be proactive with investigations and prosecutions. Enterprise criminals often don't view themselves as true criminals. This view is shared by many members of society. Consequently, enterprise crime often takes a back seat to investigations of violent or drug crimes. When enterprise criminals are punished, the sentences are often light. Enterprise crime needs to be a focal point of law enforcement, and offenders need to feel a sense of punishment.

5. Educate and involve the public in prevention of enterprise crime. One of the strategies the FBI is employing in combating enterprise crime is involving citizens and businesses in the process. Educating businesses and the public allows them to avoid becoming victims of enterprise criminals. When a businesses realizes what enterprise crime cuts into profit, businesses will be more likely to proactively prevent it.

Tips & Warnings

• Educate yourself of the types of schemes enterprise criminals use.

References

• FBI Information on White Collar Crime
• The FBI's Strategic Plan for White Collar Crime
• The Securities and Exchange Commission

Resources

• The Federal Trade Commission Website