Reminders & Some More Lecture Notes

Reminders: For those who attended the lecture on drugs and film last Thursday, remember you need to post a brief comment about it in order to earn the extra credit points. Don't forget the paper focusing on two articles on a particular crime type is due this Thursday (11/19), and I plan to devote that class period to your brief reports about what you found. In class tomorrow (11/17), I plan to wrap up the remainder of Chapter 5 and then Chapter 6 in the text. Finally, mainly for those who were missing last Thursday, I stressed that you need to purchase "Tulia". I do plan to cover that book during the final two weeks of the semester.
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LECTURE NOTES ( I left off last Thursday where the author begins to address PROFESSIONAL CRIME p. 168)

PROFESSIONAL CRIME

A. Hagan opens with a couple examples of what might be considered "professional" crime and then gets into the whole notion or concept of professional crime.

1. It does seem to fit the definition of professional be gives (bottom, p. 168). But he basically decides to use it because it is widely used in the literature (which, to my mind, is not really an acceptable justification).

a. I agree with Cressey who "...warns that many skilled criminals are simply slightly better than other crooks at lying, cheating, and stealing, and that we should be careful about calling them 'professionals'." (p. 169)

2. Sutherland's characterization of the "professional thief" (1937) makes sense. These are criminals that are clearly more committed to crime than the occasional or conventional criminal. "In his original formulation, Sutherland saw the professional thief as characterized by crime as a sole means of livelihood, careful planning, reliance on technical skills and methods, and a migratory lifestyle. Professional thieves were found to have a shared sense of belonging, rules, codes of behavior, and a specialized language." (p. 169)

3. Hagan, then, goes on to describe various types --

B. Scams/Cons

1. Gives several examples. Some do not require great skill. But to be successful you have to have CONFIDENCE (and perhaps some acting ability) and gullible victims. (As P.T. Barnum once observed: "There's a sucker born every minute.")

2. Many "too-good-to-be-true" opportunities for easy money and "get-rich-quick" schemes out there, that are really cons or scams. They are proliferating on the Internet; I am sure you see these all the time in your email inbox.

3. Many scams border on the edge of slick business practices, such as used car dealers.

C. Identity Theft

(Although Hagan gives some idea of the magnitude of this crime, it warrants more than just a sentence. In fact, many of the Internet scams mentioned above are aimed at identity theft.)

D. Ponzi Schemes

1. Hagan discusses the origin and nature of such schemes, but unfortunately overlooks the most recent and sensational example: Bernard Madoff who was recently convicted; involved 10s of billions of dollars.

2. Ponzi and Pyramid are basically the same thing: early customers being paid off with money obtained from later ones.

E. Boosters (or professional shoplifters)

1. Like any other professional, the booster employs more skill and planning than the typical amateur shoplifter. Often work in groups and focus on certain items, as noted in Crime File 5.3 "Shoplifting" (pp. 182-3)

F. Cannons (or professional pick-pockets)

1. Requires skill, dexterity, art of misdirection. Notes how South Americans are the world's most skilled, even have a pickpocketing school in Colombia.

G. Professional Burglars

1. Gives a nice overview of this group and how involved and organized it is, using involving several people. Given this, law enforcement needs to pay attention to all aspects of this activity in order to crack down on it. (See last paragraph p. 184 for a brief description of some of the people involved.)

2. Safe-crackers or "box men" fall under this category -- really just professional burglars who specialize in breaking into safes.

3. Professional fence is crucial to success of professional burglars. "Professional burglars could not operate on a long term basis without reliable relationships with fences willing to buy large quantities of stolen property on short notice." (p. 186)
Which is why police often set up their own fencing operation to uncover burglars or burglary rings.

H. Paper Hangers (forgers of money, checks, other documents)

1. Notes how counterfeiters are still around and have been helped by the development of advanced color copiers, although the government itself has made great strides in printing more tamper-resistant money.

2. Phony credit cards is a growing area and logically so, since credit cards have become so much more pervasive in our society.

3. Leads into intellectual property theft, video piracy, cable service theft -- billions of dollars involved.

I. Professional Robbers

1. In contrast to most other professional criminals, professional robbers use force or the threat of force, which the author suggests does not require much skill, especially if one has a gun.

2. One major difference with the amateur is that professional robbers focus more on commercial establishments rather than individuals.

J. Professional Auto Theft Rings

1. Notes some of the sophisticated techniques involved in stealing cars.

2. Also notes how many stolen cars end up overseas where they can fetch a much higher price.

3. "There is only a 14 percent arrest rate for auto theft, the lowest of any crime category." (p. 192), which certainly may be part of the attraction, especially for the professional thief.
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That brings us up to CRIMINAL CAREERS OF PROFESSIONALS (p. 194). You will note that I skipped over a few of the many types of professional criminals mentioned in the text. Of course, as always, please incorporate these notes in your own notebooks.