# How common are protection rackets today?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-are-protection-rackets-today/551601>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [August 26, 2010, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-are-protection-rackets-today/551601 "2010-08-26T23:41:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\
**Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-are-protection-rackets-today/551601/1 "2010-08-26T23:41:19Z")

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We’ve all seen the movies where 2-3 guys go into a business and talk about what a shame it would be if anything happened to it. How common is it for protection money to be paid in first world countries?

My father used to own a restaurant and said he didn’t have to pay protection. It wasn’t exactly in a seedy downtown area of a metropolis though.

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**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-are-protection-rackets-today/551601/2 "2010-08-27T00:25:16Z")

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- Looks around \*

Nice thread you’ve got here. Be a shame if anything were to HAPPEN to it…

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**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-are-protection-rackets-today/551601/3 "2010-08-27T01:26:14Z")

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In Chicago it’s common enough for gangs to extort “protection money” out of businesses. About a month ago, a small business owner in my neighborhood was shot to death and the police said it was due to refusal to pay the gang money to leave him alone.

And I’ve read about this a few times in the paper this year, so I imagine when the gang bangers come around to local businesses people do pay up.