Images of crime inaccurate

\"I'll make him an offer he can't refuse," said Vito Corleone, a character brought to life by Marlon Brando in the classic film, "The Godfather."\n"But, I'm funny how? Funny like a clown? I amuse you?" said the hotheaded hit man Tommy DeVito, played by Joe Pesci, in Martin Scorsese's "Goodfellas."\nThe characterizations provided by these and other movies have become not only the stuff of modern American folklore, but also the only image most people have of the world of organized crime. It is, however, a somewhat inaccurate image, said Professor Kip Schlegel, chair of the Department of Criminal Justice.\n"Organized crime is more subtle than what is portrayed in movies and TV in the sense that it is generally less structured, less authoritarian and less organized," Schlegel said. "There are remnants of what we think of as the mafia." \nBut he cautions not to think of organized crime in terms of labels tacked to specific organizations, but the problem at large. \n"I don't think the focus should be on individuals," he said.\nSchlegel also contends that organized crime is expanding in the 21st century. \n"The expansion is a product of two things," he said. "(First), demand for what it is they are supplying; if demand is up for any kind of illegal product."\nThese products include drugs, prostitution, racketeering services and illegal aliens, to list a few.\nThe second factor in expansion, Schlegel said is "the changing and globalization of the marketplace."\nStill, different regions are susceptible in different ways to problems with organized crime. Undeveloped countries are most susceptible, and in these places the politicians in power can be bought by crime organizations, Schlegel said. \n"I see organized crime growing wherever there is political instability," he said.\nArvind Verma, another professor in the department who has studied organized crime, agrees with this statement. Verma teaches classes on policing and crime prevention, and is himself a former police officer from India.\n"The underlying theme is largely political," Verma said of organized crime. \nHe said organized crime becomes a problem for a country when "the political establishment is unable to deal with criminal gangs and especially provide security and justice." The professors cite the existence of numerous powerful criminal organizations in Africa and post-soviet Russia as evidence of this.\nThere are also links between organized crime and terrorism, Verma said. \n"Terrorists use channels established by organized crime for smuggling," he said. \nTerrorist organizations are also funded in part by drug money.\n"The real issues are the problems confronting law enforcement," Schlegel said.\nThese issues include addressing problems of jurisdiction in policing these transnational organizations, as well as keeping up with the technological sophistication of these organizations.\nEnrollment in the department has increased in the last several years. Currently 704 IU students have declared or intend to declare criminal justice as their major, and given the tragic events of last September and an increased number of jobs available in the field, Schlegel expects these numbers to continue to rise. \n"Criminal justice touches everyone's life at some point," said Judy Kelley, an administrative assistant in the department.\nVerma said that here in Indiana, people needn't worry about organized crime. \n"Drug dealing is an organized form of crime (in Indiana), but to the extent it is a menace, I don't think so," he said.\nStill, Schlegel said he is skeptical about law enforcement's hopes of stomping out organized crime. \n"I don't think law enforcement can adequately address the problems it faces," he said. "Organized crime will always be there to supply the drug problem." \nWith regard to all of the illegal products organized crime provides, "solutions lie in addressing questions of demand," he said.