Criminal Groups and their Relation to Political Violence
Criminal groups are unlawful categories of individuals, either national or local, to engage in illegal activities majorly for profit, influence, and power purposes such as burglary, human trafficking, property destruction, murder. Criminal groups pose to be a threat to personal and community security as they instill fear. Since people are aware of criminal group undertakings, they tend to fear being victims of the group’s crimes. Taking a look at the impact of the criminal group’s crimes, homicide levels are alarming globally in West Africa, Mexico, South East Asia, among other regions. Drug-related organized crimes are linked to high homicide rates (Simon Fraser University, 2013). Individuals tend to develop long-term conditions such as depression or post-Traumatic disorder after an experience with a criminal group’s crime. Criminal group attacks tend to make communities disadvantaged, vulnerable, and fractured, as there is fear among residents. The upsurge in the recruitment of children as soldiers poses a significant threat to personal and community; the undertaking refers to a generation of youths, violent creating instability among the communities (Achvarina and Reich 2006). High poverty levels and the invention in light weapons enhance children to engage in crimes, which are a great security concern to everyone. Political violence threatens governance stability; political figures tend to associate with criminal groups to facilitate illegal undertakings. Political power poses a path for many traffickers to smuggle goods and involve criminal groups in the activities for their success (United Nations). For instance, terrorist groups are politically motivated, and political violence is a root source for much criminal violence.
Transnational Crimes
Transnational crimes can broadly be categorized into illicit services (human trafficking and commercial sex), illegal goods (weapons trafficking, drug, counterfeiting, and stolen property), and infiltration of government and business (racketeering, fraud). As per Brands (2009), the general erosion of border securities, the rise of failing and weak states, widespread poverty, corruption, and thriving arm ad weapon commercial dealings pose to be among the factors that drive and facilitate the rise of transnational crimes in Latin America, and the elements are similar globally. Corruption is a leading factor that creates a gap for criminal groups to penetrate and operate efficiently.
Alleviating Criminal Threats
Domestic and international actors have a role to play to reduce and alleviate criminal crimes to zero levels. At the household level, alleviation of poverty levels is the number one source of minimizing youths’ engagement in criminal groups for profit gain purposes. In a scenario where children are recruited in criminal groups, a focus on solving structural factors such as poverty by domestic policymakers can help reduce child soldier recruitment, which poses a communal and personal security threat at later stages. Formulating effective crime control at the household level is still insufficient, and I recommend solutions up to the international level for sufficient control. The elimination of corruption is the best solution to minimize criminal crimes at national levels and domestic levels. For instance, through corruption, there is a gap for drug, human, and weapon trafficking at the borders, a source of crimes. With no corruption, political violence is likely to be at its lowest level, thus low criminal violence related to political pressure (Tilley and Sidebottom 2017). For instance, a weak law enforcement system in Latin America, corruption poses to be the primary cause; thus, with its alleviation, there is a possibility of attaining minimal personal and community threats. Another initiative that may be an answer to criminal crimes is the implementation of community policing. The strategy enhances community groups and law enforcement persons’ collaboration to identify criminal groups quickly and solve the crimes and violence from the root source. The presence of law enforcement in the community instill fear in the criminal groups and is likely not to engage in violence, or attacks, thus enhancing personal and community security.
References
Tilley, N., & Sidebottom, A. (Eds.). (2017). Handbook of crime prevention and community safety. Taylor & Francis.
Brands, H. (2009). Third-generation gangs and criminal insurgency in Latin America. Small Wars Journal, 4, 1-9.
Simon Fraser University, S. (2013). The Decline in Global Violence: Evidence, Explanation, and Contestation. Human Security Press.
United Nations. (n.d.). Organized crime has globalized and turned into a security threat. United Nations : Office on Drugs and Crime. https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/press/releases/2010/June/organized-crime-has-globalized-and-turned-into-a-security-threat.html
Achvarina, V., & Reich, S. F. (2006). No place to hide: Refugees, displaced persons, and the recruitment of child soldiers. International Security, 31(1), 127-164. https://doi.org/10.1162/isec.2006.31.1.127