The Organized Crime Control Bureau (OCCB) was one of the ten bureaus that formed the

New York Police Department The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...

. The Bureau was charged with the investigation and prevention of

organized crime Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...

within

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. The OCCB was disbanded in March 2016 with all investigative entities moved to the Chief of Detectives' office. The reason for this was the NYPD launching a major reshuffle of its investigative forces, consolidating several of them in an effort to tackle the city's biggest crime problem — violence by gangs and youth crews. The Organized Crime Control Bureau was headed by Bureau Chief Thomas P. Purtell when it was disbanded.

History

Formed after the Knapp Commission investigations into police corruption, all investigations within the bureau were conducted by specially structured teams, in an effort to reduce the chance of corruption. Following the

2008 Mumbai attacks The 2008 Mumbai attacks, also referred to as 26/11 attacks, were a series of coordinated Islamic terrorism, Islamist terrorist attacks that took place in November 2008, when 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based Islamist terrorist o ...

, officers from the OCCB were trained in the use of

Ruger Mini-14 The Mini-14 is a lightweight semi-automatic rifle manufactured by Sturm, Ruger & Co. Introduced in 1973, the design was outwardly similar to the M14 rifle and is, in appearance, a scaled-down version chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO, though with its ...

s to provide support to the Emergency Service Unit forming the Critical Incident Response Capacity (CIRC) in case of a similar situation arising in New York City.

Organization

* Narcotics Division ** Narcotics Boroughs Manhattan North and Manhattan South ** Narcotics Boroughs Brooklyn North and Brooklyn South ** Narcotics Borough Bronx ** Narcotics Borough Queens ** Narcotics Borough Staten Island * Vice Enforcement Division (Merged with Narcotics Division in 2011) * Auto Crime Division * Gang Division ** Manhattan Gang Squad ** Brooklyn North and Brooklyn South Gang Squads ** Bronx Gang Squad ** Queens Gang Squad ** Staten Island Gang Squad * Firearms Suppression Division * Investigative Support Division * Organized Crime Investigation Division * Field Control Division (Internal Affairs)

Overview

The Organized Crime Control Bureau had numerous units and sub-units that investigated matters such as organized auto larceny rings, unlawful firearms, and prostitution. It was involved in using the

Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. RICO was e ...

(RICO) to search for and destroy organized criminal activities and to seize property and vehicles. The OCCB used undercover police officers to infiltrate various criminal organizations and had been effective against the

Italian Mafia Criminal organizations have been prevalent in Italy, especially in the southern part of the country, for centuries and have affected the social and economic life of many Italian regions. There are major native mafia-like organizations that are ...

, " the Westies" of the Irish Mob, Chinese Triads, and Russian Bratvas organized criminal elements. The OCCB's Joint Organized Crime Task Force worked in cooperation with the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

's New York Field Division (the largest FBI office in the US).

References

{{New York City Police Department 1971 establishments in New York City 2016 disestablishments in New York (state) Organizad Crime Control Bureau Organized crime in New York City

History

Organization

Overview

See also

References