Organized crime and places

This chapter begins by discussing the three types of organized crime—racketeering, transit crime, and the local provision of illegal goods and services—and the significance of place. It then considers the role of places and the (built) environment for organized crime. The main message is that place has a different meaning for these three types of organized crime and raises several theoretical challenges. As these types of organized crime often require a higher degree of social organization than opportunistic street-level crime, the chapter elaborates on two theoretical concepts that should be included in the study of organized crime and place: social opportunity structure and offender convergence settings.