Hello!Thanks for visiting the kvl-homepage. Here is some information about myself. My name is Klaus von Lampe. I am assistant professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, department of law, police science and criminal justice administration. My main research interests currently are strategic crime analysis following up on the EU funded project "Assessing Organised Crime" which was officially concluded at the end of 2006, and empirical manifestations of organized crime in two areas of crime, cigarette smuggling and drug trafficking, and in the form of underworld power structures. Before becoming a full-time scholar, first at Freie Universität Berlin and now at John Jay College, I have practiced law as an attorney with a specialization in representing victims of investment fraud, while also pursuing an academic career in the area of organized crime research.
My interest in organized crime goes back to the early 1990s when Germany debated extensive anti-organized crime legislation. At that time I was looking for a topic for a doctoral dissertation which would accommodate my dual academic background in law and political science.
I began with studying the conceptual history and theory of organized crime in the U.S. as a Research Fellow at the Rutgers University School of Criminal Justice, Newark, New Jersey. This project formed the basis for my doctoral dissertation at Johann Wolfgang Goethe University faculty of law, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The thesis is published in German, but you can find out more about the book from an English abstract available on this site.
My scientific work is reflected in a number of publications and presentations.
I am editor of the journal Trends in Organized Crime, associate editor of the journal Crime, Law and Social Change, and executive director of the International Association for the Study of Organized Crime (IASOC).
I am also a member of the Colloquium Group which organizes the annual Cross-Border Crime Colloquium.
To conclude the list of my criminological activities I should mention that I am keeping a press archive and library containing a wide range of material on organized crime and corruption.
Lastly, with the opening of my homepage I have taken the opportunity to go back to earlier research I conducted on the genetic-engineering debate in East Germany (GDR). This debate took place from the 1960s through the late 1980s in journals and daily papers. It illuminates the limited but nonetheless real possibility for a public discourse in post-Stalinist Soviet societies.
Comments on my website are welcome.
Best wishes
Klaus von Lampe