In this article, the term "organized crime" refers to "criminal activities," and "organized crime group" is the term used to describe "any group of criminals who are said to be engaged in these activities." The term "lower levels of organized crime" pertains to the "type of activity which would normally be investigated at the local or, at best, the force level." The first of the studies reviewed is the report of the Association of Chief Police Officers of England and Wales Working Group Into International, National and Inter-force Crime. It was commissioned to examine both the nature and extent of cross- border crime that affects the United Kingdom, as well as the adequacy of the policing response to it. In this context, the term "cross-border" refers to policing boundaries. The study's focus was on criminals who cross these boundaries and the way in which they are policed. The study found that the motives of those who cross police borders to commit crime and the methods they used differed, depending on whether they were engaged in property offenses, offenses connected to illegal markets, or offenses against the person. The second of the two studies was conducted with the assistance of a Home Office Police Research Award; it examined gangs that use violence or the threat of violence to further a criminal purpose, as well as the policing response to them (Stelfox 1996). A questionnaire was sent to those who had force responsibility for the investigation of crime, so as to determine whether any gangs existed within the force's jurisdiction and to identify the command units in which they were located; 48 of the 51 questionnaires were returned. Findings show that gangs were involved in a wide range of offenses; most forces reported that violence, rather than other types of crime, was the problem they associated most with gangs, with the majority of gangs using weapons. The findings of these two studies show that from the police perspective organized crime manifests itself at local levels, where it is most visible and of primary concern to citizens and to police. 4 tables and 21 references