KTLA News: "California Attorney General Evelle Younger discusses organized crime" (1977)

We're missing Justice Compton who hearing I think they've been granted to Alan Ellen and Alan will be I don't apologize to anybody for for the effectiveness of of our state department of justice in its assigned role, but bear in mind we're service troops. We've we've been for many years gathering intelligence and that's what we that's what we're supposed to do. We've been disseminating that intelligence to local law enforcement. We've got great intelligence files and that makes the intelligence officers very happy, but it doesn't make me and the average citizen very happy. They want action taken against uh the people that are are moving in in increasing numbers. In other words, maybe at some point the legislature will have to re-evaluate our assigned role. Maybe it isn't enough that we be service troops anymore. Maybe some other action has to be taken. >> Might as well start there. Your [Music] I told you your negotiations. I've got a couple of things that I'd like to discuss with you after they get through shooting their pictures and body else in here come out and talk to you know met our staff not want to entertain I believe they've all met our staff >> who would be >> I think they probably granted him to come later but not today. >> Yes, that's right. >> I talked to Jim on Saturday. He's up and around. >> Why now? Um well in the first place the uh the national committee on criminal justice standards and goals the uh set up a similar commission to this at the national level and they have recently submitted a report a nice fat report typical of Washington products but among their recommendations at the national level is that every state do what we're doing here in California now establish its own local commission to evaluate on a statewide basis the successes and failures in so far as our efforts to uh stop the influx of organized crime. Secondly, I remind you that it's been almost 30 years since one of my predecessors, Earl Warren, established a similar commission and there has not been any statewide evaluation of the problem in California since that time. And thirdly, you don't have to be in law enforcement to know the that the problem is becoming more acute. It's uh in the last few years, there have been more uh mafia type killings in California. Uh I think a dozen in the last few years. There's clearly a power struggle going on between the the people in in the syndicate. California is a lucrative market. Uh businessmen drool when they think of the 22 million people and the purchasing power that's out here. And that doesn't mean just legitimate businessmen. That means illegitimate businessmen in in the in the rackets. And this is this is the uh the greatest new market available and they're going to keep trying and and we have to become more effective in what we're doing to com beat and combat the uh the organized crime infiltration. now that this commission is going to address. We've got outstanding people on the commission and and they they hopefully will come up with a good action program. Uh that's what I emphas satisfied just to say have us hear us say gee we've got great intelligence files. >> What do you mean by actionoriented? What steps can they take? Well, in particular and isolated cases now, a district attorney in Los Angeles or Contraosta will occasionally get a a lone shark conviction. They'll occasionally get a a bookmaker where they can establish contact between the bookmaker and some a mafia type organization in the east. As you know, a lot of the uh a lot of the bookmakers have to lay off some of their bets back east and because they don't have enough money to cover uh losses and and in that case, they very often are laying off with some member of the syndicate. Uh but you see just uh bits and pieces here uh where each uh each uh local law enforcement agency has its own capability, but the problem is statewide. Now whether or not uh whether or not we have to develop uh more uh a special investigative unit at the state level and as I say we don't have the troops or even the responsibility or the authority for that. Now whether we or some other agency should be formed at the state level uh or whether we can make the locals more effective by by some other means of identification I don't know but actionoriented to me means let's get some convictions of some of these people we that we got that were out here. It's It's one thing to send out an intelligence report to the local law enforcement officials saying, "Hey, so and so's in town. So and so's in your town. Uh they've taken over the they've taken over the pornography industry. Well, let's do something about it." That's what I mean by actionoriented. >> Perhaps you were asked this before I came >> as a problem. Uh I again uh I'm not getting hysterical about it. Uh uh the fact is