Evening star., 1951-05-01


Destigating Committee:
The committee has received
many recommendations for con-
trolling organized crime and i'm
proving the enforcement of the
criminal law and the administra-
ton of criminal justice. Those
Recommendations have been re-
Iceived from a variety of sources:
From public officials. experts on
law enforcement, lawyers, ac-
Icountants. and interested laymen.
ALI have been given careful atten-
i ton.
/ The committee is convinced
there is no single panacea for the
widespread social, economic, and
political evils that have been un-
covered in the many cities in
which it has made Investigations
land held hearings. The commit
tee feels, nevertheless. that while
organized crime cannot be COM
Ipletely eliminated from our So
ciety, this is no. reason for defeat
ism, for vigorous law enforcement
can control organized crime to the
point where it is no longer a men-
ace to our institutions.
Responsibility Put on Local
And State Authorities.
Any program for controlling Or
ganized crime must take into ac-
count the fundamental nature of
our governmental system. The
enforcement of criminal law is
primarily State and local respon-
Sibility. While channels of inter-
state communication and inter-
state commerce may be used by
organized criminal gangs and
SyndicateS. their activities are in
large measure violations of local
criminal statutes. When criminal
gangs and syndicates engage in
bookmaking operations, operate
gambling casinos or slot machines.
engage in policy operations, ped
die narcotics, operate houses of
prostitution, use intimidation or
violence to secure monopoly in any
area of commercial activity, COM
init assaults and murder to elimi-
nate competition, they are guilty
OF violating State laws, and it is
upon State and local prosecuting
agencies, police and courts, that
the major responsibility for the
detection, apprehension, prosecu-
tion and punishment of offenders
rests. .--.-..
The crisis of law enforcement
which has been uncovered by the
committee is basically a State
and local crisis.
While the Federal police and
prosecuting agencies cannot be
substituted for State and local law
enforcement in dealing with Or
ganized crime, the Federal Gov
ernment still has a major and
vital responsibility in this. field.
The Federal Government must
provide leadership and guidance in
the struggle against organized
crime. for the criminal gangs and
syndicates have Nationwide RAM
ifications. 1t should establish ad-
ditional techniques to provide
maximum coordination in law
enforcement agencies to insure
complete efficiency.
| 1t is with the aforementioned
goals in mind that the following
recommendations are formulated: /:
I. The Congress. through a con-
tinuation of this committee,
should for further limited period
continue to check on organized
crime in interstate commerce. The
basic function of the committee
should be to scrutinize the efforts
made by the Federal agencies to
suppress interstate criminal oper-
ations, and particularly the racket
squads described in the second
recommendation. 1t will also fol-
low up the legislative recon-
mendations made in this report.
Reports Urged by Racket Squads
In Treasury and Justice
The committee should receive
periodic reports from the racket
squads recommended to be estab-
liShed in the Justice and Treasury
Departments. 1t should continu-
ously scrutinize the effectiveness
of these squads. 1t should also
take steps to facilitate greater CO.
operation between Federal and
State law enforcement agencies.
The committee should use its
subpoena power to hold hearings
from time to time concerning
crime situations in which there is
a great public interest, or which
should be called to the attention
of the public.
/ II. A racket squad should be
organized in the Justice Depart
ment.
/ The function of this racket
squad, which might appropriately
be placed in the Criminal Division
of the department, must be to
clean the country of racketeers,
gangsters and organized criminal
gangs by utilizing any lawful
means available, including:
/ (A) Prosecution for Federal
crimes;
(B) On-the-spot racket grand
jury investigations and inquiries,
these, as suggested by the attor-
ney general, should be held in
each judicial district at least once
each year:
l. tC) Gathering and correlating
information about gangsters and
criminals from all sources, both
Federal. State and local;
Cd Stimulating local prosecu-
tions by turning information con-
cerning local criminal situations
over to State and local authorities
for action. Of course, in such
cases proper caution must be ex-
iercised to avoid turning informa- =
Ition over to corrupt officials or
to officials who would use it for
political advantages;