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Local Prosecutors and Corporate Crime US Department of Justice Golden Gate University School of Law GGU Law Digital Commons National Institute of Justice Research in Brief Government Documents 1-1993 Local Prosecutors and Corporate Crime US Department of Justice Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.ggu.edu/nij-rib Part of the Criminal Law Commons, and the Law Enforcement and Corrections Commons Recommended Citation US Department of Justice, "Local Prosecutors and Corporate Crime" (1993). National Institute of Justice Research in Brief. 30. https://digitalcommons.law.ggu.edu/nij-rib/30 This Government Document is brought to you for free and open access by the Government Documents at GGU Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in National Institute of Justice Research in Brief by an authorized administrator of GGU Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. HV 12~. z+: pq~J~ 6635 . Department of Justice .8474 1ce of Justice Programs 1993 ionallnstitute of Justice Chorks B. DeWitt, Director January 1993 Local Prosecutors and Corporate Crime by Michael L. Benson, Francis T. Cullen, and William J. Maakestad Crimes committed by and for business Since the Economic Crime Project was The first component of the study was a pose a serious threat to the health, safety, begun nearly 20 years ago, local re­ mail survey of 632 district attorneys with and financial welfare of consumers and sponse to corporate white-collar crime jurisdictions located in or near urban ar­ workers as well as to the orderly function­ has changed significantly. In the past, eas. 2 Completed questionnaires were re­ ing of the economy and the government. district attorneys concentrated almost ceived from 419 districts, a response rate Commonly known as corporate or organi­ exclusively on economic crimes such as of 66 percent. The survey data were then zational crimes, these offenses raise special consumer fraud. They are now pros­ merged with economic, social , and official problems .for detection, prosecution, and ecuting a wider variety of cases, includ­ crime data for each jurisdiction. 3 The sec­ sanction. 1 Isolated efforts by individual ing occupational safety violations and ond component of the study involved case enforcement agencies have proven inad­ the illegal dumping of toxic waste. In studies in four jurisdictions: Cook County, equate against this type of crime, under­ nearly every State, prosecutors have Illinois; Los Angeles County, California; scoring the need for a coordinated, sought criminal indictments against Dade County, Florida; and Nassau County, multistrategy response from Federal, corporations, partnerships, and other New York. In each jurisdiction prosecu­ State, and local levels of government. business entities for noneconomic tors, regulatory officials, and representa­ offenses. tives of various law enforcement agencies Historically, the Federal Government has were interviewed regarding their views of This Research in Brief summarizes a assumed primary responsibility for control­ corporate crime and their interactions with ling corporate crime, but in the past two National Institute of Justice study of other law enforcement agencies. decades, local prosecutors have become local prosecutors' work against corpo­ increasingly concerned about this problem. rate crime. For the study, corporate In 1973 the National District Attorneys crime was defined as "a violation of a Trends In corporate crime Association established an Economic criminal statute either by a corporate prosecutions Crime Committee to encourage local pros­ entity or by its executives, employees, ecutors to enforce white-collar crime laws or agents acting on behalf of and for the One conclusion is that local prosecution of and to enhance their enforcement ability. benefit of the corporation, partnership, corporate crime is becoming more wide­ By 1975, 43 district attorneys' offices were or other form of business entity." spread. More than one-quarter of the sur­ participating in the committee's Economic vey respondents said that corporate Crime Project. prosecutions have increased during their From the Director Local prosecutions of corporate crime, the National District Attorneys Association. successful prosecutions often require sub­ particularly crimes against the environment As this NIJ Research in Brief points out, stantial time and labor, the availability of and consumer fraud, are becoming more local district attorneys are now taking resources plays a significant role in local widespread. Six out of 10 local prosecutors corporate defendants to court for a growing activity against corporate crime. who responded to a recent National Institute variety of offenses, including occupational of Justice survey reported increased num­ safety violations and the illegal dumping of In addition to reporting on the results of the bers of corporate prosecutions by their toxic waste. survey, this Institute report offers suggestions offices. that may improve cooperation among Fed­ Local prosecutions of corporate offenders eral, S~,aMJ.Ac~ ~9119i~s in combat~r~ Once confined almost entirely to the Fed­ are not undertaken easily; as this report this pr~l\Wci~qjjWWERSITY eral courts, local prosecutions of corporate shows, the complex, often technical nature crimes have increased steadily since the of crimes committed in an organizational Charles B. DeWitt Economic Crime Project was established in setting can make them both costly and Director MAR 2 3 1993 1975 by the Economic Crime Committee of difficult to prosecute. And because National Institute of Justic:e FEDi::HAL Dt:J-v~olvrlY AI on.-. .-. HV6635B474 1993 Local prosecutors and corporate crime tenure in office. One-quarter reported that e Only one type of noneconomic crime­ Variation In local corporate they expected to prosecute more corporate environmental offenses-was prosecuted crime prosecution cases in the future. Less than 1 percent as often as economic crime. In 1988, 31 had seen or anticipated a decrease in percent of the offices handled at least one Because of their complex, technical nature, prosecutions. environmental offense. crimes committed in an organizational setting can be difficult to prosecute. Statis­ Prosecutors in large jurisdictions (those Most districts did not have data on the tical analysis revealed three significant with populations over 250,000) most fre­ specific number of corporate offenses causes for local variations in corporate quently reported increased rates of corpo­ handled in 1988. For this reason, the prev­ crime prosecution: availability of re­ rate prosecutions. Roughly 6 out of 10 alence of local corporate crime prosecu­ sources, community context, and regional respondents in large jurisdictions said tions can only be approximated (table 2). differences. These all affected how ag­ prosecutions had increased during their • Typically, 15 percent ofthe districts gressive local prosecutors were in respond­ tenures in office, and a majority expected ing to corporate crime. this trend to continue. handled more than three consumer fraud cases a year, while 20 percent of the dis­ Availability of resources. Because suc­ tricts handled one to three annually. cessful prosecutions often require substan­ Prevalence of corporate e About 10 percent of local prosecutors tial time and labor, the availability of crime prosecutions typically handled more than three false resources has a significant influence on local activity against corporate crime. In 1988 two-thirds of the survey respond­ claims, insurance fraud cases, or environ­ mental offenses per year. Large offices (as measured by the number ents said their offices prosecuted at least of full-time attorneys) conducted more one of nine types of corporate crime (table Prosecutors in the case study sites reported corporate prosecutions than small offices. 1). Although local prosecutors handled a that most of their resources were allocated Those offices that had joined an inter­ wider variety of corporate crimes in 1988 to combat economic offenses, but noted agency task force to combat white-collar than in previous years, economic crimes that environmental offenses were becom­ or economic crime or had established a still made up the bulk of their corporate ing more prevalent. As one prosecutor special unit tended to be more active than crime caseload. said, "The danger from this environmental offices lacking such arrangements. stuff is much greater than what we have to e Consumer fraud was the most frequent­ Community context. The economic, ly prosecuted corporate offense, with 41 worry about from drugs." Another noted, · "A day does not go by without my hearing demographic, and social makeup of the percent of the offices prosecuting at least community also plays a significant role in one case of consumer fraud. about some type of environmental issue on television or in the newspapers. The prob­ determining the aggressiveness of local • False claims and insurance fraud fol­ lems are immense." corporate crime prosecution. In the study, lowed as the most frequently prosecuted community context affected local prosecu­ economic crimes, with 31 percent of the tors' attention and reaction to certain types offices prosecuting at least one offense in of offenses. For example, prosecutors in these categories. Nassau County, New York, cited illegal disposal of medical waste as a significant environmental problem, while prosecutors in Cook County, Illinois, cited illegal dis­ Tablet. Percentage of Offices Prosecuting Selected Corporate posal or abandonment
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