by PolackTony » Thu Mar 06, 2025 11:15 pm
Ivan wrote: ↑Thu Mar 06, 2025 5:44 pm
Can someone explain to me what the "street boss: of the Chicago Outfit does, and how he ranks vis a vis the boss and underboss?
No member source ever identified “street boss” as a position. Nick Calabrese mentioned no such thing in his 2007 testimony and the 2005 Federal indictments for the Family Secrets case, which laid out the organizational structure of the Chicago LCN Family made no mention of it either. Neither did the debriefing on Chicago LCN to Congress in the ‘80s by then Chicago FBI FO SAC Ed Hegarty.
A number of LE documents used “street boss” as well as “crew boss” to denote a captain of a crew. These were largely derived from intel from non-member CIs/CWs and reflect the casual usage on the street by non-member associates and those more peripherally connected to the mob. We know from several member sources, however, that within the actual Chicago LCN organization itself, this position was in fact called “capodecina/capo/captain”, same as anywhere else.
We know that in some other Families, “street boss” typically denotes a member who serves as something like a liaison between the boss/UB and the captains, as a further layer of insulation for the admin. This isn’t a formal position, but rather a role or set of responsibilities (similar to how Families might use a member as a liaison/“messaggero” to another Family, but that isn’t a formal position within the mafia organizational structure). Chicago may well at times have used a captain to act in this manner, but if so, we have no source that tells us they called this role “street boss”.
If you are referring to stuff like when Scott B refers to Albie Vena as “the street boss of the Chicago outfit”, then you’d need to ask him where he derived this from and what exactly he means by it, as I don’t have the slightest clue.
[quote=Ivan post_id=290560 time=1741308258 user_id=64]
Can someone explain to me what the "street boss: of the Chicago Outfit does, and how he ranks vis a vis the boss and underboss?
[/quote]
No member source ever identified “street boss” as a position. Nick Calabrese mentioned no such thing in his 2007 testimony and the 2005 Federal indictments for the Family Secrets case, which laid out the organizational structure of the Chicago LCN Family made no mention of it either. Neither did the debriefing on Chicago LCN to Congress in the ‘80s by then Chicago FBI FO SAC Ed Hegarty.
A number of LE documents used “street boss” as well as “crew boss” to denote a captain of a crew. These were largely derived from intel from non-member CIs/CWs and reflect the casual usage on the street by non-member associates and those more peripherally connected to the mob. We know from several member sources, however, that within the actual Chicago LCN organization itself, this position was in fact called “capodecina/capo/captain”, same as anywhere else.
We know that in some other Families, “street boss” typically denotes a member who serves as something like a liaison between the boss/UB and the captains, as a further layer of insulation for the admin. This isn’t a formal position, but rather a role or set of responsibilities (similar to how Families might use a member as a liaison/“messaggero” to another Family, but that isn’t a formal position within the mafia organizational structure). Chicago may well at times have used a captain to act in this manner, but if so, we have no source that tells us they called this role “street boss”.
If you are referring to stuff like when Scott B refers to Albie Vena as “the street boss of the Chicago outfit”, then you’d need to ask him where he derived this from and what exactly he means by it, as I don’t have the slightest clue.