Lessons from Palermo: Strategies for Increasing Organized Crime Testimony

• In Event: Studying Organized Crime Around the World: The Benefit of Different Methodological Approaches

Abstract

In recent years, Palermo, the capital of Sicily, has received attention for its reduction in the city's organized crime presence. As part of this reform, Palermo has become more effective at eliciting testimony from former organized crime members, known as "pentiti," who provide valuable data for researchers and investigators. Existing literature has examined the reliability, cultural changes, and court dynamics of pentiti testimony in Palermo. However, minimal research has specifically examined the role of the state. This paper seeks to understand how the state can influence the prevalence of pentiti in trials. The first phase of this paper involves secondary source analysis on approximately twenty-five legal, media, and academic documents to outline government reforms relating to pentiti. The second phase involves in-depth interviews with academics, legal experts, and antimafia group members to analyze how Palermo implemented strategies to incentivize pentiti testimony. It finds that the role of prosecutors in Palermo's criminal justice system and a strengthened witness protection program contributed to increased pentiti testimony. By analyzing Palermo, this paper offers a set of strategies, and conditions which have allowed them to work, which may be applicable to other countries seeking to encourage testimony.

Authors

• Kelly Slater, Temple University

• Aunshul Rege, Temple University