RT Article
T1 “Just because Somebody Is in a White Jacket and Has a Medical Degree doesn’t Mean they’re Not a Drug Dealer”: Law-Enforcement Experiences Investigating Occupational Offenders
JF American journal of criminal justice
VO 46
IS 3
SP 422
OP 444
A1 Gau, Jacinta M.
A2 Moreto, William D.
LA English
YR 2021
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1764208056
AB In spite of its dangers and prevalence, occupational crime is rarely addressed through criminal-law channels, largely because resource constraints and legal rules or ambiguities hamper criminal investigations and prosecutions. Little empirical research exists into law-enforcement personnel’s attempts to secure arrests and prosecutions of occupational offenders. The present study uses data from in-depth interviews with officers and agents tasked with investigating physicians suspected of profit-motivated overprescribing of opioids, a type of occupational offending. The themes that emerged during data analysis highlight specific challenges to these criminal investigations and the ways police and prosecutors circumvented such obstacles. Discussion of the findings centers on implications for research and policy to further the goal of successfully prosecuting occupational offenders in criminal courts.
K1 Qualitative
K1 Deterrence
K1 Criminal investigations
K1 Opioid epidemic
K1 Occupational offending
K1 white-collar crime
DO 10.1007/s12103-020-09569-7