| Strike Forces | |
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| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1966 |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction | United States |
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The United States Organized Crime Strike Force (Strike Forces) is a program of the United States Department of Justice Criminal Division empowering individual and coordinated units based in American cities across the country to pursue illegal racketeering by organized crime syndicates, including the Mafia, Gangs, the Irish Mob, the Russian mafia, and more.[1] The Strike Forces have largely been eliminated since Attorney General Dick Thornburgh in 1989 merged the Strike Forces with the AUSAs, in what was called the "slow death" of the effort against organized crime.[2] Other Strike Forces have been merged with the Strike Forces of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), losing the focus of racketeering to focus on drugs and narcotics.
Thomas J. McKeon wrote an article in the journal of the American Bar Association in which he wrote the following:[3]
"Simply stated, a "strike force" is an integrated investigation and prosecution program with collocated attorneys and investigators. A strike force emphasizes the pooling of criminal intelligence data among investigative agencies and stresses the vigorous prosecution of indictments returned by a specially empaneled federal grand Jury."[3]
- ^ "Organized Crime: Issues Concerning Strike Forces | Office of Justice Programs". ojp.gov. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
- ^ "Mafia Prosecutors Quitting As Strike Forces Disband". The New York Times. 1990-01-04. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
- ^ a b "Senate Congressional Record" (PDF). US Congress. May 12, 1970. p. 53. Retrieved September 2, 2024.