ISSN 1759-0043 Papers from the British Criminology Conference An Online Journal by the British Society of Criminology Volume 12, 2012 www.britsoccrim.org British Society of Criminology 2-6 Cannon Street London EC4M 6YH Papers from the British Criminology Conference An Online Journal by the British Society of Criminology 2012 Conference, (4-6 July) Criminology at the Borders Hosted by University of Portsmouth Editor Andrew Millie, Edge Hill University Editorial Board Alana Barton, Edge Hill University Karen Bullock, University of Surrey Simon Mackenzie, University of Glasgow Other reviewers Fiona Brookman, University of Glamorgan; Willem de Lint, Flinders University; Janet Foster, London School of Economics, Barry Godfrey, University of Liverpool; Chris Greer, City University London; Rob Mawby, University of Wales, Newport; Jeffrey Monaghan, Queen’s University at Kingston; Claire Moon, London School of Economics; Judith Rowbotham, Nottingham Trent University; Daniel Silverstone, London Metropolitan University; Keith Soothill, Lancaster University; Sandra Walklate, University of Liverpool; T. Wing Lo, City University of Hong Kong; Richard Yarwood, University of Plymouth Published annually and available free online at www.britsoccrim.org © 2012 the authors and the British Society of Criminology Vol. 12 ISSN 1759-0043 Disclaimer: This publication is made available on the understanding that the publisher, editors and authors will not accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions (express or implied) that it may contain. The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the British Society of Criminology. Papers from the British Criminology Conference An Online Journal by the British Society of Criminology Volume 12, 2012 Contents Editorial 1 Andrew Millie Policing farm crime in England and Wales 3 Jane Jones and Jen Phipps, Aberystwyth University American smuggling and British white-collar crime: A historical 25 perspective Larry Karson, University of Houston-Downtown No evidence of absence: Successful criminals and secret societies 41 Mohd Kassim Noor-Mohamed, Birmingham City University, and Jayne Noor-Mohamed, Nottingham Trent University Claws of the dragon: Chinese organised crime in the UK 61 Jack Dees, University of West London i Papers from the British Criminology Conference, Vol. 12 ii Papers from the British Criminology Conference © 2012 the author and the British Society of Criminology www.britsoccrim.org ISSN 1759-0043; Vol. 12: 1-2 Editorial Andrew Millie In 2012 the British Society of Criminology Conference made a successful return to the University of Portsmouth. Held from 4th to 6th July the conference had the title “Criminology at the Borders”. At the conference Professor Jock Young was awarded the BSC Outstanding Achievement Award, presented to him by Professor Pat Carlen. Plenary presentations were provided by Katja Franko Aas, David Garland, Roger Hood and Sharon Shalev. Thanks are due to the team at Portsmouth for organising the event. In 2013 the conference is hosted by the University of Wolverhampton where ‘criminology’ as a subject will be put on trial. If you are planning to speak at Wolverhampton it would be great if you would also consider submitting your paper to this journal. For this Volume of the journal we have maintained a rigorous review process. Ten papers were submitted and four have made the final selection. All submitted papers were reviewed by at least two academics. In the first paper Jane Jones and Jen Phipps of Aberystwyth University consider the current state of farm crime in England and Wales. ‘Farm crime’ is recognised as a relatively neglected sub-set of rural crime. The paper focuses on the policing of farm crime in the context of budget cuts and calls from government for greater volunteer involvement. The second paper by Larry Karson of University of Houston-Downtown is entirely different. This takes a historical look at American smuggling and British white-collar crime. From colonial times onward Karson traces a history of corporate criminal involvement in smuggling. The third paper is by Mohd Kassim Noor-Mohamed of Birmingham City University and Jayne Noor-Mohamed of Nottingham Trent University. Their paper focuses on what they term ‘successful criminals’. Evidence is drawn from a series of interviews with a Malaysian Chinese active gang-leader, “a secret society member, businessman, philanthropist” who also engages in organised crime and kidnapping. The fourth and final paper is by Jack Dees of the University of West London. He too focuses on organised crime, but in particular Chinese organised crime in Britain. The murder of a Chinese national in Manchester in 2004 is used as a case study. 1 Papers from the British Criminology Conference, Vol. 12 The production of this journal is only possible with the assistance of colleagues who give their time freely. Thanks are due to the editorial team of Alana Barton, Karen Bullock and Simon Mackenzie. Thanks also to Fiona Brookman, Willem de Lint, Janet Foster, Barry Godfrey, Chris Greer, Rob Mawby, Jeffrey Monaghan, Claire Moon, Judith Rowbotham, Daniel Silverstone, Keith Soothill, Sandra Walklate, T. Wing Lo and Richard Yarwood. Andrew Millie, Edge Hill University, December 2012 2 Papers from the British Criminology Conference © 2012 the authors and the British Society of Criminology www.britsoccrim.org ISSN 1759-0043; Vol. 12: 3-24 Panel Paper Policing farm crime in England and Wales Jane Jones and Jen Phipps, Aberystwyth University Abstract Farm crime is a relatively neglected area of research in the criminological literature. Some work has been conducted in the United States and Australia, however, little attention has been paid to the subject in the United Kingdom. There have however, been recent concerns voiced about farm crime in England and Wales from both the public and private service sector as well as across the media. This article has two main aims: one, to ascertain why farm crime has recently emerged as a rural crime issue, when up until now it has been relatively neglected by a broader rural crime and governance framework and two, to consider how the policing of farm crime can expect to fare in the future. The paper begins with a brief review of the existing farm crime literature before situating its neglect in the United Kingdom within a broader rural crime and governance framework. Thereafter, the main focus moves onto the policing of farm crime both in its current state and within the context of recent policy developments in crime governance. Key Words: Farm crime, rural policing, crime governance, big society Introduction …the cold, hard truth is our rural regions have become hotspots of criminal activity in their own right, not just with an increase in those crimes seen in urban areas but also an entirely new breed of activity targeting farmers and their assets, both man-made and natural (Crompton1 2011a:14). In recent times concerns have been voiced about farm crime and rural crime more broadly in England and Wales from both the public and private service sector as well as across the media. In November 2011, the 1 Mr Crompton, the then Chief Constable of Lincolnshire Police was also the ACPO lead for wildlife and rural crime. 3 Papers from the British Criminology Conference, Vol. 12 Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) together with Crimestoppers, held the inaugural rural crime seminar ‘Closing the Gate on Rural Crime’. This event brought together criminal justice professionals, members of the farming community and other interested parties concerned about rural crime issues. The aim was to encourage more widespread use of existing crime prevention strategies and to develop new ideas on preventing and detecting rural crime. The organised theft of livestock and large agricultural machinery, according to the raft of recent media reports and voiced concerns by interested parties, appears to be a particular problem. A report in the Farmer’s Guardian (Midgley, 2012a) for example, citing the latest National Farmers Union2 (NFU) Mutual statistics highlighted the cost to the agricultural industry of rural theft last year amounting to £52.7 million with agri-crime climbing 6 percent in England and Wales. Other media reports have referred to increasing thefts of large and expensive equipment by organised gangs, with tractors turning up in both European and less developed countries (BBC Countryfile, 2011). The BBC’s Countryfile programme, watched by between six and nine million viewers every Sunday (Case, 2012) has sporadically reported on agricultural crime costing the industry millions of pounds. In 2010, it cited 600 tractors worth £25 million stolen that year along with 1,700 quad bikes. In the academic arena, farm crime is a relatively neglected area of research in the criminological literature, with some work undertaken in the United States and in Australia and relatively little in comparison emanating from the United Kingdom. Farm victimisation however, does need to be regarded as an important aspect of rural crime and requires further attention from academics as well as from rural policymakers and practitioners. When farmers find themselves a victim of crime, the financial costs can reverberate beyond the individual business into the community and ultimately, consumers may find themselves paying higher prices for agricultural products (Chalfin et al., 2007). The theft of livestock can mean that years of hard work is effectively wiped out where farmers