The mission of BIC is to eliminate organized crime and other forms of corruption and criminality from the industries it regulates. BIC's goals are to ensure that the regulated businesses are able to compete fairly, that the marketplaces remain free from violence, fraud, rackets, and threats, that customers experience fair treatment, and that the businesses who are allowed to operate in these industries always conduct their affairs with honesty and integrity.

The common element among these regulated industries or businesses is that, in the past, they have been controlled or influenced by organized crime. Through the City's legislative reforms with the enactments of laws governing these industries and businesses, the integrity of these businesses has improved. The organized crime cartel that once ran the private carting industry no longer exists. Carting customers can now contract for waste removal services free of threats and intimidation, free of the cartel's property-rights system, and free of anti-competition practices. These same customers have the freedom to shop around for carters and negotiate the costs for waste removal services. Similarly, the City's public wholesale markets were for decades influenced by organized crime. O rganized crime's corrupting influence over certain functions in the markets, such as the unloading and loading functions, resulted in physical violence or threats of violence, property damage, and thefts. In addition, organized crime's corrupting influence over the markets fostered and sustained a cartel that forced seafood suppliers and truckers to use particular unloading crews at fixed prices in an anti-competitive scheme. Now the markets are free of violence or threats of violence and wholesalers are free of anti-competitive practices.

BIC has numerous enforcement and regulatory powers to employ in its continuing vigilance to ensure that organized crime and its cartels do not return to these industries. BIC accomplishes this mission through background investigation, criminal investigation, and regulatory enforcement. For instance, the rigorous licensing standard of "good character, honesty, and integrity" enables BIC to prevent individuals and businesses with organized crime connections to be involved in the regulated industries. While BIC has the power to grant or deny an application, BIC can also impose a monitor, who reports only to BIC, as a condition of granting a license or registration to oversee the activities and affairs of the applicant business. Additionally, BIC has investigative, audit, and subpoena powers at its disposal, allowing BIC to conduct search warrants and arrests for criminal activities. Lastly, BIC enforces the laws and regulations governing the regulated businesses and industries and issues civil or administrative violations for offenses against such laws and regulations.