Editing Protection racket (section)

==Providing genuine protection==
Sometimes racketeers will warn other criminals that the client is under their protection and that they will punish anyone who harms the client.  Services that the racketeers may offer may include the recovery of stolen property or punishing vandals.  The racketeers may even advance the interests of the client by forcing out (or otherwise hindering or intimidating) unprotected competitors.<ref name="Gambetta" />

Protection from theft and vandalism is one service the racketeer may offer. For instance, in Sicily, [[Sicilian Mafia|mafiosi]] know thieves and fences in their territory, and can track down stolen goods and punish thieves who attack their clients.

Protection racketeers establish what they hope will be indefinitely long bonds with their clients. This allows the racketeers to publicly declare a client to be under their protection.  Thus, thieves and other predators will have little confusion as to who is and is not protected.

Protection racketeers are not necessarily criminals. In ''[[A Short History of Progress]]'', [[Ronald Wright]] notes on p.&nbsp;49, "The warrior caste, supposedly society's protectors, often become protection racketeers. In times of war or crisis, power is easily stolen from the many by the few on a promise of security. The more elusive or imaginary the foe, the better for [[Public Opinion (book)#Manufacture of consent|manufacturing consent]]."