Crime in Acrea
Crime in Acrea describes acts of violent and non-violent crime that take place in Acrea. It is defined by the Acrean Penal Code (Stafflagar) and related laws and statutes. The Ministry of the Interior, which oversees law enforcement and security, and the Ministry of Justice, which oversees Acrea's justice system, are the government departments responsible for reducing and preventing crime.
Crime rates in Acrea have varied over time, but the recording of national crime statistics began only in 1880. Crime is considered to have peaked in Acrea after 1900, and have broadly declined since the 1940s. Today, property and internet-related crimes constitute the majority of crime in Acrea, with all types of violent crime including domestic violence, sexual assault, assault, and homicide consistently declining since 1990. In 2021, the homicide rate in Acrea was .58 per 100,000.
Organised Crime
The majority of organised crime in Acrea is conducted under the Camarilla, a federation of Acrean organised crime families first established in 1918. It is also often referred to colloquially as the Acrean Mafia or the Brödra (Brotherhood). The Camarilla was formed as a governing entity for the various major national crime syndicates which existed in Acrea at the time, providing a framework for cooperation and conflict mediation governed an Överchef or Overboss, also called the Patron des patrons. Its name comes from the Acrean French term Le Camarille, Nordicised as Camarilla and a reference to Acrean folkore, which refers to a secretive group who surround a ruler. The Camarilla is composed of several crime families or "clans", who are often territorially divided to avoid conflicts of business operations. The Overboss is an informally elected position, often held by the most respected (and usually most powerful) boss. The Camarilla itself collects dues from each clan, which used to fund the organisation's upkeep and operations.
The Camarilla's main enterprises are arms trafficking, money laundering, prostitution, and protections, though some branches of clans additionally participate in low-level drug trafficking. Drug trafficking primarily deals with cocaine, as heroin and other classified "Class I" controlled narcotics such as methamphetamine don't have a large market in Acrea. Since crackdowns on organised crime in the 1960s, the Camarilla limited its operations to those deemed "low-impact" within Acrea seeking to minimise their footprint on Acrean society. The clans turned to outward-facing and easily obfuscated operations, utilising their extensive network and influence on logistical companies to expand trade in arms and narcotics, and taking advantage of Acrea's banking privacy laws to expand money laundering for other groups and taking fees. Camarilla clans are also known to provide protection services to both individuals and private enterprise, are known to sometimes serve as a private security force in this manner alongside protecting international Acrean business from foreign criminal organisations. The Camarilla operates extensively outside of Acrea, and has a strong presence in numerous foreign countries such as Ossoria, Shalum, Ruvelka, and Cacerta. Outside of Acrea, the Camarilla's operations expand into loan sharking, racketeering, bootlegging, and more extensive drug trafficking. Clans often establish branches in foreign countries where they operate, usually overseen by an Acrean-born boss.
The Acrean government has been criticised in the past for its lax enforcement regarding the Camarilla. This attitude is often credited to Acrean law enforcement's effects-based approach to targeting crime: because the Camarilla's most lucrative operations involve little to no impact on Acrean society, it receives much less priority from the Acrean government. Despite this, several crackdowns have occurred due to the Camarilla's involvement in foreign incidents. Two of the most famous examples occurred as a result of the Camarilla's operations in Ossoria. The first was in 1985, when it was found that Camarilla trafficking was a primary source of arms for the Republican Faction, a domestic terror group in Ossoria. A major operation against the organisation resulted in a series of arrests and convictions from 1985 to 1987, which saw Camarilla trafficking operations decline significantly for much of the decade. Another similar police operation occurred after the attempted assassination of Tara Silven in 2011.